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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27169739">One-Woman Army</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefoolwhowrote/pseuds/thefoolwhowrote'>thefoolwhowrote</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BAMF Tenten (Naruto), F/M, Fuuinjutsu, Hyuuga Neji Lives, I'll tag things as I go (ships and people), Tenten (Naruto)-centric, and you can pry that hc from my cold dead hands, background shizugen, change in plans kakagai is very obvious, didn’t plan for this subplot but it’s there now, does the hiraishin not have its own tag?? hello wtf??, i apologize in advance for that, kakagai is minor but it’s there so imma tag it, tenten boutta be a fuuinjutsu master just fucking watch me, they're fuckbuddies your honor, updates are so fucking slow I'm sorry, yeah it's gonna be nejiten in the end but idk about the other ships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 01:21:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,947</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27169739</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefoolwhowrote/pseuds/thefoolwhowrote</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>And right there, under the description of the Yellow Flash’s famous Hiraishin no Jutsu was the same kunai that now sat in Tenten’s pouch, which she now pulled out and stared at in awe.</p><p><i>Yondaime-sama held this same kunai once</i>.</p><p>---</p><p>or: Tenten finds one of Minato's kunai and learns the Flying Thunder God jutsu</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy, Hyuuga Neji/Tenten, Minor or Background Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>116</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>comments are really helpful, so please consider leaving one!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When she was little, Tenten had dreamed of being just like the legendary Tsunade.</p><p>She wanted to be a great kunoichi known and feared by everyone throughout the world. She wanted to break mountains with her bare hands, heal the worst wounds with ease, summon giant slugs, and be a legendary drinker and gambler with a legendary bust.</p><p>(Kind of. She could do without the gambling if she was being honest, but she wanted that legendary alcohol tolerance. And the boobs.) </p><p>As she grew older, she tried everything to be like Tsunade, but she failed at every turn. Her chakra control wasn’t good enough for medical ninjutsu or monstrous strength, she couldn’t contract with slugs because they were primarily used to heal, wasn’t old enough to drink or gamble, and her boobs weren’t big enough to be legendary (yet).</p><p>Still she kept trying, but built her skills elsewhere too. Her skills with weapons hailed back to days spent with her mother and sister as a little kid, throwing shuriken at targets they had set up in the backyard. Those skills had gotten her a place on Gai-sensei’s team, composed of three taijutsu specialists. During her early days with Team Gai, she found she had an affinity for seals, and began to train with them, gaining mastery over basic storage scrolls and using them to store and launch her weapons.</p><p>But her humiliating defeat at the hands of the Sand kunoichi brought her self-loathing to a head and as she lay in the hospital, forbidden from missions for half a year because of her spinal injury, Tenten seriously considered giving up on being a ninja.</p><p>It had been Lee who had convinced her to continue. After his fight with the monstrous red-haired Sand nin, the two of them hung around the hospital together, Lee hopping around on his crutch, and Tenten slowly walking next to him in her back brace. Lee told her about his resolve to heal and continue being a ninja, despite everyone telling him to quit, and suddenly, Tenten felt stupid for thinking of giving up.</p><p>Tsunade had never given up. She hadn’t given up after her entire division had been wiped out in Ame during the Second Great Ninja War. She hadn’t given up when she was told medics were useless in battle. No matter how many times she had been injured, or seen people injured, or told her dreams weren’t possible, she had never stopped fighting, never given up on being a kunoichi.</p><p>So Tenten resolved to continue trying to be like Tsunade, and never give upon her dreams.</p><p>But then, just weeks later, Tenten had stood in silent horror outside of Lee’s hospital room as her childhood hero told him to give up on his dreams of being a ninja.</p><p>And just like that, Tenten felt her dreams of being like the legendary Tsunade breaking to pieces and sinking into her gut, replaced by anger toward the blonde woman.</p><p>What gave her the right to tell Lee to give up?</p><p>She had been <em> born </em>legendary, Tenten realized. Tsunade was the granddaughter of the First Hokage, grandniece of the Second, student of the Third, leader of the prestigious Senju clan, and endowed with naturally good chakra control and an innate skill for medical ninjutsu.</p><p>She had no idea what it was like to be born with nothing and to try and become something through blood, sweat, tears, and sheer force of will.</p><p>But that old hag was going to see it happen, Tenten vowed. Tenten had been born nameless and clanless to parents from a foreign land, but she was going to become a legendary kunoichi, known and feared throughout the world as a weapons’ mistress. A one-woman army with the strength of a thousand.</p><p>So that became her new goal.</p><p>Since she was banned from missions until fully healed, she spent time at the library, reading about seals. It was there that she learned about the Yondaime Hokage and his mastery of sealing jutsu. The Yondaime had come up with some of the most powerful and innovative seals in his time, and one of them was the seal that had been used to seal away the Kyuubi. </p><p>Tenten eagerly read every single book about the Yondaime Hokage that she could get her hands on, which wasn’t all that many. Yondaime-sama was a very mysterious figure, likely because his reign as Hokage had barely lasted one year before he was killed in the Kyuubi attack.</p><p>Tenten managed to find Yondaime-sama’s name, Minato Namikaze, also known as Konoha's Yellow Flash.</p><p>In the few books that Tenten managed to find on him, it became quickly apparent that Minato-sama was some sort of insane prodigy that no one in the Leaf’s history had ever matched. He had the highest graduating score in the history of the Academy, made chunin the year after his graduation, jounin the year after that, had the highest kill count of any shinobi during the Third Great Ninja War, was given a “flee on sight” classification in <em> every shinobi nation’s </em> Bingo Book, became Hokage, and then sealed away the Kyuubi with a seal of his own making and died in the process.</p><p>(That last part didn’t really factor into him being a genius, it was just unfortunate.)</p><p>He had been named the Yellow Flash for his distinctive hair color and speed from his signature jutsu, the Hiraishin. He had also been a renowned seal master, earning a Rank 7 from the International Sealing Commission for creating some decidedly shady seals, or so the books said. The more she read about him, the more she realized she wanted to learn from him. </p><p>Her goal changed once more.</p><p>She gave up on trying to learn Tsunade’s skills, and set her sights on being like Minato instead. She would be a seal master known and so feared throughout the world that enemies were told to run away just at the sight of her. A shinobi as powerful as the Fourth, and as legendary as the Fifth.</p><p>If Minato had been alive, Tenten would have immediately begged him to teach her everything he knew about sealing. Unfortunately, he was just a bit dead, so the library’s books would have to do. Tenten checked out around twelve books on sealing, to the horror of the desk chunin, who looked at Tenten like she was some kind of monster for making her do her job.</p><p>In the months that she spent recovering from her back injury and the rest of her team recovered from their injuries from the failed Sasuke Retrieval mission, Tenten absorbed knowledge like a sponge, learning everything she could on sealing, and especially on sealing jutsu.</p><p>When Tsunade declared her to be fully healed and started letting her back on regular duty, she trained hard, learning to make more complex seals from books and experimentation. Her apartment quickly became a mess of scrolls, weapons, and random parchment covered in matrices and calculations just lying around wherever she happened to leave them, to her sister’s horror.</p><p>Through the library’s vast collection of information on sealing, she learned the difference between a seal and a sealing jutsu. </p><p>A seal was what she had been using for her whole career so far as a ninja, and they were inked onto pieces of paper to be used by anyone whenever they wanted to. They could vary in complexity and power, with some seals able to seal away objects or people for eternity. </p><p>Sealing jutsu, on the other hand, were seals created in the mind of the user and then applied through touch with chakra. They were complicated, and only ever really worked if the user had a natural affinity for them, like Yondaime-sama, or his wife, Kushina-san, who had apparently been famed for her sealing jutsu alongside her hot temper.</p><p>With her frequent trips to the library, Tenten and the desk chunin, Sayaka, became sort-of-friends. Tenten wasn’t really sure about that, though. The tall, black-haired, glasses-wearing teen seemed to only have three expressions: bored, smug, or irritated. Sayaka was snarky and quick to make fun of anyone who happened to do something stupid in front of her, and she and Tenten would frequently trade insults and sarcastic comments across the aisles as they looked for any and all books on seals.</p><p>Sayaka, as Tenten soon found out from careful inquiry, was from a distant branch of the Nara clan, and the laziest Nara that Tenten had ever had the misfortune of meeting. She had no desire to go beyond her current rank of chunin, and had applied for the desk job for its low effort and quiet environment.</p><p>“Unfortunately,” Sayaka shot a glare at Tenten as she reached for some scrolls on the top shelf, “my peace and quiet’s been ruined these days, with you constantly coming in and demanding that I help you look for books.” Sayaka walked over to her and held out the scrolls. Tenten eagerly grabbed for them, only to have Sayaka (a whopping 1.81 m) raise the books above her head, where Tenten (a comparatively measly 1.71 m) couldn’t reach. She smirked down at Tenten. “Aww, what’s wrong shorty?”</p><p> </p><p>“Give me my fucking books, Sayaka!” She jumped for the books and Sayaka took a step back, snickering at her futile efforts.</p><p>“Watch your language. You’re too little to be saying such dirty things.” She danced away as Tenten yanked out a kunai and gave chase.</p><p>All in all, Tenten was recovering, and well on her way to kicking Temari’s ass (she was adding Sayaka to her hit list too). Once she did that, she’d become a seal master, just like the Yondaime, and one day, her name would be known across the world as a legendary weapons and sealing mistress.</p>
<hr/><p>One evening, Tenten sat on her couch, frowning at a blank tag in her hand. She closed her eyes and visualized a seal formula in her head, mentally checking her math one last time before channeling chakra into her hand. The seal formula slowly began to appear on the tag and Tenten grinned as she watched the black lines slowly spread across the paper.</p><p>Tenten had discovered her affinity for sealing jutsu by complete accident about a week ago, during a routine border patrol mission with her team, when she had been dreaming up a way to seal someone’s arm to their body and bumped her shoulder against Lee’s just as she had thought up the finalized seal. Lee’s sudden shouting had drawn Gai-sensei and Neji’s attention to where he was hopping around, trying to free his arms from his side. </p><p>
  <em> Tenten, realizing what she had done, attempted to unseal his arm in the same way, taking a moment to build up chakra in her hand and using it to undo her seal. It took her three tries, but she finally managed to free him. She had no idea how she had managed to get the seal onto Lee, though. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Sorry, Lee. I didn’t mean to do that.” She gave him a sheepish smile. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “It is okay, Tenten! I know you meant no ill will!” He struck his ‘nice guy’ pose and shot a grin at her, the sunlight glinting off his teeth. “It was a very impressive technique! How did you do it?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Later, in the middle of Gai-sensei’s subsequent lecture about being careful and paying attention to one’s teammates, Tenten realized she had been channeling chakra throughout her body to jump from tree to tree and thinking of the seal at the same time, which fulfilled two out of three of the requirements for the application of a sealing jutsu: seal formula and chakra. The third was physical contact with a target, and when she had brushed against Lee, the third requirement had been fulfilled and the visualized seal formula had been applied and bound Lee’s arms to his body. The gears in her brain began to crank. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> If she were to modify the seal to bind an opponent’s legs, how would it look? She’d have to modify the code specifying the body part to be immobilized, but it would be a bit trickier than that. The aim was to have one leg bound to the other, which meant that the code that bound the arms to either side of the body would have to change to bind the limbs to one another instead. The seal began to take shape in her mind. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> (“Tenten? Tenten, are you listening to me my dear lotus?”) </em>
</p><p>
  <em> (“No sensei, I don’t believe she is. Shall I get her attention?”) </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Neji tapped her shoulder and found himself on the ground with his legs bound together by lines of fuin-code. Flushing, Tenten once again released her seal, this time after five attempts, and half-listened to Neji’s incensed lecture, internally celebrating the success of her seal.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> For the rest of the trip back to Konoha, none of her teammates dared to go within five feet of her, which was just as well, since Tenten’s period had decided to start about an hour after the incident with Neji, and she was itching to commit some homicide. </em>
</p><p>The idea of being able to paralyze an opponent simply by touching them and putting a seal on them was just too good an opportunity to pass up, and Tenten threw herself into learning sealing jutsu. The instant she returned from her mission, she had first gone home to change (stupid period, ruining her clothes), and then ran to the library and demanded access to all books on sealing jutsu from Sayaka, who helped her find the books she needed, albeit with much complaint.</p><p>She had started by experimenting with explosive tags, which was probably a bad idea to do inside her apartment, but it was too late now.</p><p>As she watched the fuin-code appear, Tenten’s eyes caught on a small mistake in the code. She hadn’t focused well on the trigger mechanism and a time limit hadn’t been set, which meant that the bomb was going to explode <em> now </em>!</p><p>“Fucking shit!”</p><p>Tenten tossed the bomb in the direction of her small table that sat in her living room and leapt behind the couch she was sitting on. There was a loud boom, and a sudden flash of heat before a shockwave ripped through her living room. Tenten heard glass shatter as picture frames clattered to the ground. Something in the kitchen crashed to the ground and broke.</p><p>After waiting for a moment to make sure nothing was going to crash down on her, Tenten gingerly stood up, surveying the damage as the acrid scent of smoke filled the apartment. The explosion had utterly destroyed the table and sprayed soot everywhere, ruining Tenten’s couch and the living room walls.</p><p>“Tiantian!” </p><p>Her older sister, Li-Fen, came running into the room and stopped short at the sight of the destruction. “Are you okay?” she demanded in zhōngguó huà, their native language. She rushed over and began patting her down, searching for any injuries. Tenten brushed her off.</p><p>“I’m fine, jiějiě. I managed to get under cover before the explosion.” Tenten winced as she heard another picture frame crash to the ground in the background. Hopefully that wasn’t the family picture. Mama would be so mad if it was. “I just messed up an explosive tag.”</p><p><em> “ </em>Explosive tag? Didn’t I tell you not to mess around with weapons in the house, mèimei?” Her sister shook her finger at Tenten in a manner reminiscent of their mother and Tenten sent an internal apology to her spirit, wherever it was.</p><p>Loud clomping footsteps coming from outside made Tenten let out a string of foul curses, to her sister’s horror. She heard keys jingle and the door slam open as the landlady walked in. Her jaw slackened as she took in the destruction. Then, her gaze snapped to Tenten and Li-Fen.</p><p>“Girls,” The landlady’s tone was dangerously saccharine, and Tenten reflexively tensed, hand heading for a kunai pouch that she wasn’t currently wearing. “Can you please explain what happened to my apartment?” The stout brown-haired woman gestured around at the wreckage of the living room. </p><p>“Uh,” Tenten twiddled her thumbs guiltily. “It… underwent unplanned rapid disassembly…?”</p><p>Li-Fen smacked her on the back of her head in admonishment, making Tenten swear in zhōngguó huà and complain, “What? I’m telling the truth!”</p><p>The woman ran a hand over her face and let out a deep sigh. “I can’t deal with you two anymore. You’ve got weapons everywhere, make so much noise with said weapons, you’ve got traps all over the apartment that scare the shit out of me when I come in for inspection, and now you’re blowing things up!” She threw her hands in the air and repeated, “I can’t deal with this anymore! I’m going to have to kick you out. Pack up your stuff and go. I hope you can find accommodation somewhere else.”</p><p>And so, an hour later, Tenten and Li-Fen stood outside their former apartment, all of their things packed and sealed away into scrolls that they carried in boxes. After sticking up her middle finger toward the apartment complex, and the landlady by extension, Tenten began the long and arduous search for a new apartment, her sister in tow.</p><p>With the speed and suddenness of their eviction, there was no way they would be able to find an apartment in time to have a place to sleep tonight. Tenten could talk to Tsunade and see if her stance on the orphan living situation was any different than the Sandaime’s. Maybe she could find a vacancy for Tenten and her sister. If she said no, they would probably have to crash on a park bench or something for a while until they found a new place to stay for cheap, which was something she absolutely wanted to avoid.</p><p>After telling Li-Fen about her plan, they walked to the Hokage’s office and Tenten headed in while her sister sat outside. As she entered, she found Shizune heading out in a hurry.</p><p>“Ah, hello. Do you need something?” The black-haired woman smiled at Tenten, but she looked interestingly flustered. There was a slight blush on her cheeks, and she was holding a folded piece of paper in her hand that she tucked away the instant she noticed the direction of Tenten's gaze.</p><p>Ignoring that, Tenten asked, “Shizune-san, is Tsunade-sama free at the moment?”</p><p>“Oh, yes she is. She’s in her office, taking a break from paperwork.” Shizune began to hurry off before turning around and adding, “I’d go in before she gets too drunk though. She was already well on her way there when I left.”</p><p>“Thanks!” Tenten headed up to the Hokage’s office and warily knocked.</p><p>A call came from within. “Enter!”</p><p>Stepping in, Tenten was greeted with the smell of sake and the sight of Tsunade about to drink some straight out of the bottle. “Can’t get a moment to myself with this damn job.” She set the alcohol down and sighed. “What do you need, Tenten?”</p><p>“Tsunade-sama, are there any apartment vacancies that you know of?” No use in wasting time with inane pleasantries in this situation. The sooner she had a place to stay, the better. Otherwise, she and her sister would probably end up staying in some old haunt from their street days.</p><p>“Got evicted, did you?” Tsunade took a long drink from the sake bottle, then shuffled through some papers and handed one to her. “This apartment’s been vacant for nearly seven years. It’s cheap too.”</p><p>Tenten’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head at the cost. “Only 40,000 yen a month? I know you said cheap, but this is practically stealing! Is it a shitty apartment or something? Does it have bugs?”</p><p>“It’s a good apartment with no bugs.” Tsunade’s voice was somber with an undercurrent of anger. “It’s the person next door. No one wanted to be neighbors with him. That’s why the owner is selling it so cheap, but no one’s taken it. They hate him that much.”</p><p>“Who is it? Some kind of pervert?”</p><p>Tsunade shot a glare at her and Tenten cringed. “You really think <em> I’d </em> suggest one of this village’s kunoichi be neighbors with a pervert? After having Jiraiya as a teammate?” She took another long drink from the sake bottle, a slight flush starting to appear on her cheeks. Her voice turned soft. “The neighbor… Well, you’ll see for yourself. You’re around his age, and an orphan to boot, so you probably have no idea why people hate him. I think that’s for the better. Treat him well, okay?”</p><p>Who the hell was this neighbor and why was Tsunade so invested in his well-being? “Yeah, I will.” Turning, she called a thank you to the drunk blonde over her shoulder and left the building.</p><p>“Yo, jiějiě, I got us an apartment!” she called, waving the paper over her head as she ran toward the bench Li-Fen sat on.</p><p>They picked up the boxes of scrolls and began the walk to the vacant apartment. Before long, they reached a large grungy-looking building with pipes running all over it and huge water tanks on top. Stepping into the building, they went to the landlord’s office and after exchanging some polite greetings, Tenten set down the paper that Tsunade-sama had given her.</p><p>“Ya girls sure ya want that one?” The landlord raised a brow at them and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. He clicked it a couple times until a flame finally came out and lit the end. Taking a deep drag, he exhaled and, in a voice that seemed like he bore the weight of the world on his shoulders, told them, “The demon fox kid lives next door.”</p><p>Demon fox kid? What the hell did this mysterious neighbor have to do with the Kyuubi? Well, as ridiculous as it sounded, Tenten would take the Kyuubi over having to be homeless. Exchanging a look with her sister, she replied, “Yeah, we’ll take it.”</p><p>“Yer loss, then.” The man let out a puff of smoke before standing up and tossing a key to her. “I’ll show ya to yer new place.” They took the stairs up to the very top, just below the roof. The hallway was more like a balcony and was blocked from any potential rain by the roof’s overhang. “We keep any ninja on this top floor, so they don’t disturb nobody tryna get in and out all in a rush.” He led them to a door, putting the key in and unlocking the door to reveal an empty, dust-filled apartment.</p><p>“Well, I’ll leave ya to it. Good luck with the demon fox brat.” The man left, leaving behind the faint smell of cigarette smoke and Tenten wondering once again who this neighbor of hers was. Setting that thought aside for the moment, she unsealed a broom from one of her scrolls and set about sweeping up the place alongside Li-Fen.</p><p>Once that was done, Tenten grabbed her scrolls containing all of their furniture and set each one down where she wanted them. After putting all the furniture scrolls down, she released the seals, and the scrolls disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing in her box as the furniture stood where the scrolls once did.</p><p>Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Li-Fen stocked up the cabinets and fridge with the food from their old apartment, brought over in a special scroll for sealing fresh food. Their toiletries were set in the bathroom, rugs on the floor and Tenten’s sealing materials stayed in a box in her room for the moment, to be unpacked and dumped all over the apartment in a few days.</p><p>
  <em> Moving is so easy when you know sealing. </em>
</p><p>With a smug smile, she looked outside the window to see that it had darkened significantly. On cue, her stomach grumbled. “Jiějiě, are you gonna make dinner? I wanna go see who this neighbor of ours is.”</p><p>Li-Fen poked her head out from the kitchen. “Yeah, I’ll make dinner. Stay safe, Tiantian. The landlord said the neighbor had something to do with the Nine-Tailed Fox.”</p><p>Tenten stepped out of their apartment, moving on to the one next door, intent on finding out just why everyone was so scared of this guy. She knocked and stood nervously outside. When the door finally opened, her jaw dropped at the sight of a familiar face.</p><p>“Naruto?”</p><p>“Hey, Tenten! What are you doing here?” The blond grinned at her.</p><p><em> Naruto </em>was the Demon Fox boy? What did Naruto have to do with the Kyuubi? Did it have anything to do with his weird chakra during the Chunin Exams against Neji?</p><p>“Hellooo?” Naruto waved his hand in front of Tenten’s face. “Tenten?”</p><p>“Ah, sorry!” Tenten smiled at him, filing away her questions for a later time. “I’m your new neighbor!” She pointed at her door. “Everyone was saying all these scary things about my neighbor, so I had to come and investigate what was up. Turns out I had nothing to worry about!”</p><p>“Oh, yeah.” The boy’s bright expression disappeared, an uncharacteristic frown taking over his normally happy and carefree features. “Everyone treats me like I’m some kind of monster. It kinda blows.” It looked unnatural. Every time Tenten had seen him, the kid had this fire behind his eyes and joy on his face. A constant and undying determination to work incredibly hard, prove everyone wrong, and make something of himself from nothing, no matter how many times people told him to give up. He was just like Lee.</p><p>(He was just like her.)</p><p>“Well, guess what? You’re not a monster. You’re a kid just like me, and I’m not scared of you.” Tenten smiled fully at him. “It’s nice to meet you, neighbor!”</p><p>Naruto opened his mouth to reply and was interrupted by a loud growl from his stomach. “Well, time for some ramen!” he declared, pumping his fist in the air.</p><p>“Is ramen all you eat?” Tenten asked, intending her question as a joke.</p><p>“Um,” Naruto rubbed the back of his head, “yeah pretty much. No one ever taught me to cook, and ramen’s super yummy, so I always eat it!”</p><p>Stunned, she stared at him for a few seconds before a deep-seated feeling within her took over. Gai-sensei called it her ‘mother bear’ instinct, something deep within her that made her take care of others when she saw them unable to help themselves. It was a habit from her days when she lived on the streets and she took in younger girls, giving them some of her food and teaching them to defend themselves from creeps on the streets, even when her sister told her not to.</p><p>“Come with me.” </p><p>She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him into her new apartment, seating him at her table and going to the kitchen. “Jiějiě,” she said, switching over to her native language, “we’ve got a guest over for dinner.”</p><p>Li-Fen turned from the stove where a pot of noodles sat and raised an eyebrow at her. “I thought you said you were going to see the neighbor.”</p><p>“Well, yeah, but that neighbor was Naruto. Remember that loudmouthed blonde kid from the orphanage? The same one I told you about from the chunin exams? Well, he doesn’t eat anything but cup ramen and he doesn’t know how to cook.”</p><p>“What the hell? Sandaime-sama literally gave him an apartment when he was like 9 but didn’t teach him to cook?” Li-Fen scowled and began to aggressively chop up vegetables. “I’ll make dinner for three then. Ironically, I’m making ramen anyway.” She pointed at the dining room with her knife. “Go sit down with him.”</p><p>“Yo,” Tenten greeted, coming into the dining room and sitting across from Naruto. “Sorry that was so sudden, but my sister’s gonna make us dinner, okay? It’s ramen anyway, so don’t worry.”</p><p>Naruto shyly ducked his head. “I mean that’s nice and all, but why? I woulda been fine with my cup ramen.”</p><p>Tenten let out a derisive snort. “Yeah, right. Cup ramen’s so unhealthy. Honestly, I have no idea how you’ve survived this long without proper food.”</p><p>“Ramen is proper food! And I get Ichiraku Ramen too, not just cup ramen!”</p><p>“Not cup ramen!” Tenten rolled her eyes. “And if you spend money on Ichiraku Ramen that often, you’ll go broke and won’t be able to pay rent. And I’ve seen your ramen order before, Naruto. You never get any vegetables!”</p><p>“Yeah, ‘cause they <em> suck </em>!” He crossed his arms and let out a huff, turning his head away. “Ramen’s only good if you’ve got meat and eggs in it. Vegetables are disgusting, so I never get them.”</p><p>“Well, you’re gonna be eating them today, kid.” Li-Fen came into the room carrying three bowls, each with a set of chopsticks across the top. She set one down in front of each seat at the table and looked at Naruto expectantly.</p><p>“Well?” The older girl put her hands on her hips. “Eat! You need to eat vegetables, or else you’ll never be healthy! You’ll die if you keep eating shitty cup ramen every day! There are no vegetables in it!”</p><p>“Aww, but I hate vegetables!” He glared at the bowl as if it had personally offended him. “Where’s the meat? Any good ramen’s got meat in it! And I want an egg!”</p><p>Tenten put on her scariest glare, which was scary enough to make even the indomitable Neji Hyuuga flinch, and snapped, “You will eat this, and you will do so without complaint, otherwise I will stab you with every sharp tool at my disposal. And trust me, I have a lot of them.”</p><p>Her intimidation had the desired effect, and Naruto shivered, mumbled something under his breath about scary girls, and began to eat the ramen, grimacing at every bite of vegetable he had to take.</p><p>With a sigh, Li-Fen sat down and began to eat as well. The meal progressed in relative quiet, with the only sounds heard being the slurp of noodles and the clinking of chopsticks against the bowls.</p><p>When they finished, Naruto mumbled, “Thanks for the food. I hated the vegetables, but the ramen was fine, I guess.” He looked down at his feet. “This is the first time anyone’s ever cooked a homemade meal for me.”</p><p>“No problem.” Li-Fen stood up and took all the bowls to the sink, setting them down and grabbing some water for Naruto. Sitting back down she smiled at him. “Listen, you need to eat more balanced meals.” Naruto opened his mouth and Li-Fen quickly continued, not giving him a chance to argue. “It’s not healthy to just have instant ramen all the time! Honestly, it’s a wonder you’re not dead yet! I’m gonna teach you to cook too, so you can make yourself food, okay?”</p><p>He was silent for a while. “Thank you,” Naruto finally mumbled, standing up and letting out a huge yawn. “I'm gonna go to sleep now. I’ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow. Lots of training to do.”</p><p>“Alright then. See you tomorrow, for dinner, I guess.” The sisters saw him out and waved goodbye to him before shutting the door and saying their goodnights to each other, going to their rooms. Tenten plopped down on her bed and yanked out a scroll, starting a new storage seal. As she worked, she let her thoughts run back to earlier.</p><p>Why had the landlord called Naruto the Demon Fox kid? The name suggested he had something to do with the Kyuubi, obviously. </p><p>In the Academy, they had learned about how Yondaime-sama and his wife Kushina had fought the Kyuubi and Yondaime-sama had died as he sealed away the beast in… in what?</p><p>Come to think of it, no one had ever mentioned <em>what </em> Yondaime-sama had sealed the Kyuubi into. As Tenten had learned from her sealing research, the Bijuu were massive beasts made entirely of chakra and couldn’t be sealed into anything normal. In fact, the only things they could be sealed into were the this set of legendary ninja tools that she’d read about and people. The issue with sealing the beasts into people was that the host had to acclimate to the Bijuu’s chakra and be compatible with it. This was easiest with babies because of their undeveloped chakra system, which would then develop around the Bijuu’s chakra and consequently allow them to use it more effectively and remain in control far better, as they had their whole lives to learn to control the beast within them.</p><p>
  <em> Okay, go over the facts again. What do you know? </em>
</p><p>The Nine-Tailed Fox had attacked the village, killing a whole bunch of people, including Tenten’s father. Yondaime-sama had fought the fox and sealed it away on the night it had attacked, and he and his wife had lost their lives in the process. Afterward, Sandaime-sama had come back as Hokage and the Uchiha clan had been blamed for the incident (she wasn’t supposed to know this information, but Tenten had a bad habit of reading things she wasn’t really supposed to in the library). All of this had taken place 13 years ago.</p><p>13 years… which was how old Naruto was.</p><p>Tenten shot up in bed, eyes wide. That couldn’t be a coincidence. Naruto would have been 10 months old at maximum on the night of the Kyuubi’s attack, and a newborn at minimum. Had Yondaime-sama been desperate enough to seal away the Kyuubi, he might have found a baby somewhere whose parents had died and sealed the fox into it. That would ensure the safety of the village for years to come if the seal was done right, and Yondaime-sama was a seal master, so obviously it was.</p><p>Which meant Naruto was the Kyuubi’s jinchuuriki.</p><p>It all added up too. The fear in people’s eyes when they spoke about him, calling him the Demon Fox boy, or a monster. They probably only saw him as the thing sealed in him, like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment. If he was the Jinchuuriki, he was essentially a weapon of mass destruction for the village, which also explained the Third Hokage’s interest in him. </p><p>When Naruto had turned 9, Sandaime-sama had come to the orphanage and given Naruto his own apartment to live in, weekly rations, and an allowance, taken directly from the village’s funds. Tenten had been exceptionally jealous at the time and wondered what had been so special about Naruto to warrant the goddamn <em> Hokage’s </em>interest. Well, now she knew, and she wasn’t jealous anymore.</p><p>That strange orange chakra he had used in his fight against Neji had to have been the Kyuubi’s chakra. He had drawn just the perfect amount to augment his speed and strength to match Neji’s Kaiten. How was he drawing on it so efficiently and keeping the beast under control at the same time? Did it have something to do with his seal? What kind of seal had Yondaime-sama used?</p><p>Mind swirling with questions, Tenten fell into an uneasy sleep, seal formulas dancing in her mind alongside a giant roaring fox, crimson eyes burning with malice.</p>
<hr/><p>The next day, Tenten went to the library to do some research to try and figure out what seal Yondaime-sama had used to seal the fox. Sayaka was absent, and someone else was manning the desk, to Tenten’s immense disappointment. She had been looking forward to verbally sparring with the snarky young woman today. As she scoured the shelves, Tenten found a book titled The Art Of The Tender Fist. Curious about why a book on a taijutsu style was put in the fuuinjutsu section, Tenten opened it up and started reading. </p><p>
  <em> Hundreds of years before the Warring States period, many shinobi wished to imitate the Hyuuga clan’s Gentle Fist style and its effects. Unfortunately, they did not have the precise chakra control or pinpoint accuracy that the Hyuuga had thanks to their famous kekkei genkai, the Byakugan. A sect of seal masters eventually realized they could create similar effects using sealing jutsu, and they studied the movements of the Gentle Fist closely, modifying the katas to fit with the application of sealing jutsu. Thus, the Tender Fist fighting style was born.  </em>
</p><p>Oh, she <em> had </em>to tell Neji about this! If the Tender Fist was just the Gentle Fist with seals, then Neji could teach her the katas, she could figure out how to work the seals, and she would be able to use seals more in combat, alongside her weapons. Hell, she could already imagine doing exactly what Neji did, and the look on Hiashi’s stupid face when he saw her, a clanless orphan ninja, doing the same thing as the almighty Hyuuga, but without the Byakugan.</p><p>Tenten sprinted out of the library to find Neji and demand that he teach her the Gentle Fist katas, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. After asking around, she found out he was on a mission and ran to the Hokage’s office.</p><p>Bursting into Tsunade’s office, Tenten skidded to a halt in front of her desk, an elated grin still on her face. “Tsunade-sama, where’s Neji?”</p><p>The blonde woman let out a sigh and steepled her hands under her chin. “We received a distress call from Suna requesting our assistance. I told Shikamaru to come up with a plan, and he took Chouji, Ino, Naruto, Sakura, Shino, Hinata, Kiba, Neji, and Lee.”</p><p>The grin dropped. “So everyone except for me, then? Why wasn’t I sent out too?”</p><p>“Don’t blame me, Shikamaru was the one who picked the team.” Tsunade let out a soft snort. “I’ve never seen that lazy kid so excited about a mission before. Probably still raring to even the score with that blonde girl from the Sasuke mission. Even called it ‘Team Return the Favor’ or something dumb like that.”</p><p>“What, does he think I’m not good enough to help or something?” Tenten spat, not even bothering to attempt to control her anger. The last time everyone had been sent on a mission without her, which had also been Shikamaru’s decision, for the record, Neji and Lee had come back grievously injured and Konoha was now down one pissy black-haired Uchiha prodigy.</p><p>Tsunade sighed and put her head in her hands. “Look at this from a strategist’s point of view. You’re an offensive fighter with no healing or tracking capabilities. Now, look at the team. Between Naruto, Kiba, Lee, and Chouji, he’s got all the offensive power he needs, and if he happens to need more, he’s got Neji or Sakura right there.”</p><p>Gritting her teeth, Tenten stormed out of the Hokage’s office, slamming the door behind her with a resounding bang, hard enough to slightly crack it. She stormed outside and let out a scream of fury, letting her voice go raw as she shouted every profane word she knew to the sky.</p><p>Tenten was so fucking <em> tired </em> of not being taken seriously just because her jutsu weren’t as flashy or blatantly destructive as everyone else’s. They were <em> ninja </em> for crying out loud! Being flashy was counterproductive! It seemed like everyone had forgotten that weapons were just as deadly as any jutsu.</p><p>Tenten looked up at Hokage Rock, at the visage of the Yondaime Hokage who’s stone eyes stared over the village, protecting it even after his death. </p><p>
  <em> I want to be like you, Yondaime-sama. But no matter how hard I try, I’m still nothing. </em>
</p><p>Wiping the few fallen tears off her face, she walked to Hokage Rock and climbed up the stairs to enter the tunnels carved into the mountain, used by the builders to make the stone faces. Tenten had discovered them on a run around the village during the early days of Team Gai when she couldn’t keep up with the boys and needed a place to rest and wallow in her shame alone. She had quickly found that these tunnels were the perfect place to go when she didn’t want anyone to bother her.</p><p>She made her way through a maze of passages that she had memorized over time, walking aimlessly and brooding until she entered the tunnel that ran right behind the faces, where beams of light shone through the holes in the cliffside that were the Hokages’ eyes. There was scaffolding all over the place but it was mostly concentrated at the end of the tunnel, remnants of the construction of Tsunade’s face.</p><p>Tenten clambered up the wooden beams and sat at the very top, where she could brush the cavern’s ceiling with her fingers if she stood up. She walked along the beam, and sat down at the edge, legs dangling in the air 50 feet from the ground as she watched little dust motes float around lazily in the beams of sunlight coming from the wall.</p><p>Tenten was no stranger to being ignored. As a kid living on the streets after her mother’s death, no one paid any attention to her, another orphan in a crowd of them. Her dream to become like Tsunade had been born of her innate fear of being forgotten by the world, just fading into obscurity like so many others like her did. She spent hours training with kunai and shuriken until her aim became legendary at the Academy. But it wasn’t enough. She still ended up smack in the middle of the graduating class because of her average test scores, put with the top scorer and lowest scorer to balance them out.</p><p>Time and time again, clients brushed Tenten off and ignored her because of her seemingly plain abilities. She’d seen the way their eyes just slid over her like she wasn’t even there, and locked onto Neji’s distinctive pearlescent eyes, or the prominent outline of Lee’s powerful muscles, and nodded in approval. She’d heard clients refer to her as “Neji’s little girlfriend”, only there to support him in battle with her “trinkets and toys”. She’d been called the “back up” on more than one occasion but was mostly told she was “so convenient”, like a tool to make her teammates' lives easier just because she happened to carry all sorts of useful equipment in her scrolls. </p><p>And it was one thing when clients brushed her off, but to have Shikamaru, someone her own age who had fought alongside her on missions before, take everyone else and leave her behind? It hurt more than she’d like to admit.</p><p>As she sat, elbows on her knees and hands cupping her face, drumming her feet against the wooden beam, she spied a metallic glint out of the corner of her eye. Snapping her gaze to the source, she saw what looked like the handle of a kunai on the wall across from the Yondaime’s face. She climbed down from her perch and moved toward the kunai, pulling it out of the wall to examine.</p><p>The kunai was unlike any that Tenten had ever seen. It had three blades; a main blade and two smaller blades on either side of it. The handle was thicker than that of a standard kunai and had a seal formula inscribed on it. It looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place where she had seen it before. Tenten tossed it in the air, caught it, and spun it in her palm. It was heavier than a standard kunai, which was to be expected with its extra side blades. </p><p>It looked incredibly familiar, though Tenten couldn't quite place where she had seen it before. Given the kunai’s placement, there was a possibility that it had something to do with Yondaime-sama, which made it even more intriguing. The library would be her best bet, since she had been there so much recently, and she had probably seen it while reading about him. </p><p>Stowing the kunai in her pouch, she jumped through the Yondaime’s right eye and channeled chakra to her feet, sliding down the mountain at breakneck speed. From the rock, she landed on the nearest rooftop and leaped from building to building, focusing entirely on the library.</p><p>When she burst into the building, the replacement desk chunin looked up from whatever he had been doing and smiled at her. “Back so soon? Where’d you head off to in such a hurry?”</p><p>Kami, she wished Sayaka were here. The lazy girl wouldn’t have even given her a second glance. “Uh, I had some… research to do. And now I’m back for… more research,” she finished lamely, mind still racing a mile a minute, trying to figure out the secret of the mysterious kunai.</p><p>“Well, if you need anything, let me know,” he said, smiling at her. Tenten nodded and hastily retreated to the shelves, finding the books on the Yondaime that she had most recently read. Skimming a book describing each Hokage in detail, she found Yondaime-sama’s section and flipped to the “Jutsu and Abilities” section.</p><p>And right there, under the description of the Yellow Flash’s famous Hiraishin no Jutsu was the same kunai that now sat in Tenten’s pouch, which she now pulled out and stared at in awe.</p><p>
  <em> Yondaime-sama held this same kunai once. </em>
</p><p>Tenten sat down at the nearest table and pulled out the Yondaime’s kunai, setting it down so she could see the seal formula on the handle.</p><p>The true mark of a seal master was the ability to write incredibly complex codes as seals that consisted of a few lines at most. The seal on the kunai was one such seal; a single line made up of four kanji: 忍 (endurance), 愛 (love), 之 (of), and 剣 (sword). It was an incredibly short seal that Tenten couldn’t even pick apart and examine like she usually did because it was literally just a string of kanji.</p><p>Scribbling down a copy on a scrap scroll she carried around with her for when sudden inspiration struck, she messed around with the order of the kanji to see if it had any hidden meaning or expansion, and the most coherent answer she ended up with was ‘sword of love and endurance’ which made no sense in context. Glaring at the stupid thing, she prodded at the seal with her chakra, hoping it would expand if she did.</p><p>It didn’t expand, but instead, a foreign chakra inside the seal pulsed against hers in response. The tiny bit of chakra was overwhelmingly powerful, and could only belong to someone with immense amounts of spiritual <em> and </em>physical strength. If the kunai was Yondaime-sama’s, then this had to be his chakra sealed into it.</p><p>But that still didn’t tell her how this kunai was related to the Hiraishin.</p><p>She scoured the library for hours, looking through every book on space-time ninjutsu that was available to genin, but found nothing. There was a chance that it could be in the chunin or jounin section, but she couldn’t access those… unless Gai-sensei checked them out for her.</p>
<hr/><p>“Gai-sensei!” Tenten skidded to a stop on Team Gai’s usual training ground and was briefly rendered speechless at the bizarre sight in front of her. “What are you doing?”</p><p>“Training, of course!” Gai-sensei shot her a winning smile and thumbs up, which was nowhere near as impactful when he was in push-up position.</p><p>“Sure, I gathered that, but what does Kakashi-sensei have to do with it?” she asked, gesturing to the silver-haired jounin, who sat on Gai-sensei’s back, peacefully reading his little orange book. At the sound of his name, he looked up at Tenten and the indent of his lips in his mask curved upward.</p><p>“I lost one of our competitions,” he said by way of explanation and returned to reading <em> Icha Icha</em>.</p><p>“Oh, of course.” Really, Tenten should have gotten used to this level of weirdness a long time ago, she supposed, but as the sanest member of the team who often ended up playing the straight man to Lee and Gai-sensei’s antics, a certain level of aversion toward weirdness was to be expected.</p><p>“What brings you here on this fine day, my dear lotus?” Gai-sensei hadn’t stopped his pushups. “Are you here to train alongside us?” A fire shone in his eyes at the prospect and Tenten shuddered to think of what kind of insane training he had in mind for them. Probably something like climbing Hokage Rock without using their legs or walking 500 laps around Konoha on their hands, neither of which she had the time for at the moment.</p><p>“No, sensei, I need to ask you a favor. There’s a jutsu I’m trying to find out more about, but the genin level books don’t have enough information. Can you check out some books from the chunin and jounin shelves for me?”</p><p>Gai-sensei stopped his pushups momentarily. “What jutsu are you attempting to learn Tenten?”</p><p>“Hiraishin no Jutsu.”</p><p>Kakashi-sensei’s head snapped up, his eyes wide. “Hiraishin?”</p><p>There was some history here for sure, and it couldn’t be anything good, judging by the look on his face. He looked like he had seen a ghost. But if he had history with Hiraishin, maybe he could help Tenten figure out what the seal formula on the knife was for.</p><p>Taking it from her kunai pouch, she showed it to them and watched as a haunted expression took over Kakashi-sensei’s face, eyes filled with mixed shock and sadness. “That’s one of Minato-sensei’s kunai,” he breathed. “Where did you find that?” </p><p>“The passage behind the faces in Hokage Rock.” A beat of silence, and then, “Wait, did you say Minato-sensei?”</p><p>Kakashi-sensei got off of Gai-sensei’s back and reached for her kunai. Reflexively, she moved it away, watching as Kakashi-sensei flinched slightly and moved his hand away. He stared at her for a while Tenten grew increasingly uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Finally, he asked, “You said you wanted to learn Hiraishin, right?”</p><p>Tenten nodded, putting her kunai away. He wouldn’t be taking it from her, even if he did have history with it. “Yeah. Do you know it?”</p><p>“Come with me,” he said, walking away from her.</p><p>“Wha— He didn’t even answer my question!” Indignantly, she turned to Gai-sensei and gestured at the silver-haired nin’s retreating back, only for him to shrug, looking unusually pensive.</p><p>“Kakashi has a good reason for reacting the way he did. Go with him,” he urged. “If you want to learn Hiraishin, he would be one of the best people to talk to.” His characteristic smile returned and he gave her a thumbs-up. “I expect great things from you, my dear lotus! Train hard and let the fire of your youth guide you to glory!”</p><p>“I’ll make you proud, Gai-sensei,” she promised, turning on her heel and running to catch up to Kakashi-sensei. Falling into step with him, she asked, “So where are we going?”</p><p>“You’ll see.” With that, he sped up, forcing Tenten to jog to keep up with his long strides. They continued in silence until they reached Konoha Cemetery. Kakashi-sensei went to the Hokage burial marker and traced his hand over the third name on the rock: <em> Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage</em>.</p><p>“Before he was Hokage, he was my sensei,” Kakashi-sensei said, eyes still on his dead mentor’s name. He whispered something else just as the wind blew, drowning out his words.</p><p>“Huh? What’d you say?”</p><p>The masked man shook his head. “Nothing.” He turned to her and locked eyes with her, his expression returning to neutrality. “I brought you here because you said you wanted to learn Hiraishin.”</p><p>“Do you know it?” </p><p>When he shook his head in response, a wave of disappointment crashed over Tenten. It must have shown on her face because Kakashi-sensei quickly said, “I know the basic mechanics behind it, though. How much do you know of Hiraishin right now?”</p><p>“Not much,” Tenten admitted. “I know it’s a space-time ninjutsu and that Yondaime-sama used to use it with these kunai,” she pulled it out, turning it so the seal formula was visible, “but I have no idea how the jutsu itself works, or what the seal’s for. I just thought I could learn it because I use fuuinjutsu and my storage seals fall under the space-time ninjutsu category.”</p><p>“You can.”</p><p>A giddy feeling rose in her chest and she felt lighter than she had in ages. “I can learn Hiraishin? Do you really mean it?” She bounced up and down, excitement coursing through her at the prospect. Soon she’d be zooming around the battlefield faster than Lee without his weights! She cackled internally. Neji was going to be <em>so </em>confused and jealous when she became too fast for his Byakugan to keep up with.</p><p>The corners of his eyes wrinkled. “Of course! You’ve got most of the skills already. You use summoning with your scrolls and I know about your adventures with sealing jutsu. Your poor teammates, all bound up for no good reason.” He shook his head mockingly and Tenten felt her face heat.</p><p>“You know about that?”</p><p>“Gai told me all about it.” Kakashi-sensei gave her a knowing look. “He was very proud of you, you know. He kept telling me about how incredibly talented his wonderful students were, and how happy he was that you kids were progressing so fast.” He ruffled her hair affectionately and his look grew distant. “Minato-sensei would have loved you too. Probably would’ve taken you as a student and taught you everything he knew. You would’ve mastered sealing in a year or two under his tutelage.” His gaze returned to Yondaime-sama’s name carved on the grave.</p><p>He let out a sigh and looked back at her, giving her a clearly fake smile. “Sorry about that! You came here to learn about Hiraishin, not listen to an old man’s memories of the past.”</p><p>“Wait, no it’s fine—”</p><p>The silver-haired jounin brushed off her protests. “The Hiraishin is classified as space-time ninjutsu, but it also falls under the category of fuuinjutsu. That seal on the handle,” Kakashi-sensei pointed at the kunai’s handle, “stores the user’s chakra and allows the user to reverse-summon themselves to the location on the seal. It’s a bit like a lightning rod, which is why it has the name Hiraishin no jutsu.”</p><p>Well, damn. That made the short seal even more impressive. It didn’t take too much fuin-code to seal your own chakra, but it did take a lot of code to give it the same qualities as a summoning seal, and even then, Minato-sama would have had to make it a two-way summoning seal for teleportation like this to work.</p><p>“Now then, you’ll need a teacher.” Tenten opened her mouth to protest, but Kakashi-sensei cut her off. “Hiraishin can be extremely dangerous when you’re inexperienced. You could get stuck in the void dimension and die, or accidentally time-travel if you mess up or fiddle with your seal, which would have disastrous effects.” He shot her a glare from the corner of his eye. “I know about your habits of fiddling with seals. Gai’s told me all about them. If you mess with Minato-sensei’s seal, like I know you want to, there’s a high likelihood that you’ll teleport yourself back in time to him. It is a space-timeninjutsu, after all.”</p><p>Tenten let out a huff and crossed her arms. He was right, as much as she hated to admit it. “Okay fine, fine. So who’s gonna be my teacher then?”</p><p>“Minato-sensei only taught three people his jutsu. One of your sensei’s old genin squad teammates was one of them.” His smirk was visible through the mask. “He’s a cocky bastard though, and probably won’t agree to teach you until you prove you know enough sealing jutsu to impress him.”</p><p>“What a pain,” Tenten sighed. “What’s his name and where can I find him?”</p><p>“He’s not in the village right now. He’s out on a mission, but he’ll be back tomorrow. He and a bunch of his friends are planning to hang out at a Yakiniku restaurant tomorrow evening.” Kakashi scribbled something down on a piece of paper and folded it, handing it to her. “If you can catch him before he picks up a woman to take home for the night, he’ll probably agree to spar with you to test your abilities.”</p><p>“Great, another pervert,” Tenten grumbled, toying with the piece of paper but not opening it yet. </p><p>“He just sleeps around a bit,” Kakashi-sensei defended, “he’s not a pervert.”</p><p>“I’ll take your word for it, then, since you’re the expert in this field.” </p><p>Kakashi-sensei eyed her suspiciously. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”</p><p>“You’d know all about perverts, being one yourself, Kakashi ‘I shamelessly read porn in front of children’ Hatake.” She smirked as his expression turned to one of horror and he hissed at her to speak quietly.</p><p>“It’s not porn!” he added, a desperate note in his voice. “It’s adult literature! Erotica!”</p><p>“That’s just a fancy word for porn.”</p><p>“Erotica is completely different!”</p><p>“No matter what way you try to slice it, it’s porn, Kakashi-sensei.”</p><p>He let out a long-suffering sigh. “No matter where I go, I get harassed by little genin telling me I’m a pervert. Can’t a man get a little respect around here?”</p><p>“When you stop reading porn in public, I’ll consider it,” Tenten said snidely.</p><p>Kakashi-sensei let out another sigh and ran a hand down his face. “Well, you know everything you need to know now. If that’s all, then I’ll go back to helping Gai with his training and not getting insulted.” He gave her a little salute. “See you later, Tenten, and good luck.”</p><p>“Thanks for everything, Kakashi-sensei!”</p><p>He vanished in a puff of smoke and Tenten was left alone in the cemetery to stare at Yondaime-sama’s grave. Kneeling in front of the grave, she murmured, “Thank you, Minato-sama. I promise I’ll live up to your name.” A gentle breeze blew in response, and Tenten smiled, standing up and walking out of the cemetery.</p><p>Looking at the paper in her hand, she read the name written in Kakashi-sensei’s near-unintelligible scrawl.</p><p><em> Genma Shiranui</em>.</p><p>“Well then, Genma-sensei,” she murmured, smirking a little, “I’m looking forward to learning from you.”</p><p>Never again would she be forgotten, another person in the crowd, left behind as the spare, the backup, the convenient tool for others to use and discard as they saw fit.</p><p>She would be <em>legendary</em>.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>please please let me know if anything I wrote about Tenten's culture is wrong (specifically how Tenten calls her older sister jiějiě and Li-Fen calls her younger sister mèimei, and how their language is called zhōngguó huà since China isn't called China in the Naruto universe). I am not Chinese, so I did a bunch of research to make sure I got everything right, but if something does happen to be wrong, definitely let me know so I can change it immediately. I really want to be respectful.</p><p>Tenten's older sister, Li-Fen, is from Street Fighter and is Chun-Li's adoptive daughter. I always headcanoned Tenten to be Chun-Li's daughter (it's the buns and arm bracelets) so I just made it a thing in this story. I changed some things, though. Chun-Li and Ryu are married, Li-Fen is their biological daughter, and Tenten is their second daughter, 5 years younger than Li-Fen. Tenten never knew Ryu, because he died in the Nine-Tails attack when she was 1. I headcanoned the family's last name to be Xiang, one of the last names given to Chun-Li outside of Street Fighter canon, and Ryu took her surname out of respect and love for her. So the sisters' full names are Tenten Xiang and Li-Fen Xiang.</p><p>Sayaka Nara is my tall and salty naruto OC and if you wanna hear more about her, you can come talk to me on tumblr!</p><p>My Team Gai tumblr is <a href="https://erumai-maadu.tumblr.com/">@erumai-maadu</a> and my ask box is always open (anon always on) so feel free to come and talk to me!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tenten meets her teacher(s).</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>After 84 years I finally update. Incredible. This is actually one chapter split in two and the other half will come soon this time, for real. This chapter is dedicated to my poor tumblr mutual who had to deal with me screaming about this chapter for two months. I love you and owe you a nejiten oneshot.</p><p>This was edited in a car so please forgive any spelling errors or shitty grammar. Yay for 11-hour car trips, am I right?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The day after the mission to Suna, Tenten was raring for a fight, and whichever one of her teammates she found first would be getting an ass-kicking. Unfortunately for poor Lee, since Neji was in the Hyuuga compound training with Hinata, he ended up being her victim.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lee!” She skidded to a halt in front of his training hall, where he was warming up. Kiba, Shino, and Chouji, all of whom were there for some reason, watched the drama unfold. “I’ve got some words for you, buddy, and none of them are nice ones! Spar with me!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tenten? What’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m mad at you, that’s what’s wrong! Now, defend yourself!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Channeling chakra into her legs, she jumped into the air and brought an axe kick down at his head. Lee got out of the way just in time and her heel slammed into the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kick his ass, Tenten!” Kiba whooped, shooting her a fanged grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>mad!” Chouji yelped, mouth full of chips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Indeed,” Shino said. “It would be in our best interest not to interfere.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Returning her focus to Lee, she sprinted forward again. “Why me?” Tenten demanded, throwing a series of punches at him, all of which he dodged. He smacked her fist aside with enough force to leave it mildly stinging and ducked under a kick, stepping back to avoid the punch that followed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you talking about, Tenten?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why was I the only one that didn’t get to go on that mission?” Lee blocked her next strike with his arm and kicked at her, making her step back and return with a kick of her own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He blocked it on his crossed arms and dodged another set of attacks, all the while yelling, “You were otherwise engaged, Tenten! We simply went with what Shikamaru told us!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Otherwise engaged, my ass! I was just doing research in the library! I was available!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They went back and forth, trading hits as Tenten berated him for leaving her behind. Lee tried to argue with her, but he was no match for Tenten’s anger and was drowned out by her indignant shouting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lee was definitely not fighting at full power, which only served to piss Tenten off even more. She redoubled her efforts and sunk her fist into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. “You have no idea what it’s like! Did you ever stop and ask why I wasn’t on the mission?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t understand why you are so upset about this, Tenten!” Lee wheezed, backing up to catch his breath. Tenten didn’t give him any time and rushed at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m upset because I’m supposed to be your </span>
  <em>
    <span>teammate </span>
  </em>
  <span>and you left me behind!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lee, using her momentum against her, sidestepped, grabbed her arm to stop her, and kicked her back, sending her flying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She landed hard, pain shooting through her hip as it skidded against the hard-packed dirt. As she stood, she saw that Lee had turned to talk to Chouji, Kiba, and Shino about something to do with Naruto.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten, seeing her opportunity, rushed forward shouting, “Gotcha!” and unleashed a Dynamic Entry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her foot slammed into Lee’s face, sending him flying back to slam into the ground. Tenten landed and looked over his prone form with a smug grin, which quickly turned into concern. “Lee, are you okay?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stumbled upright, the side of his face already red and swollen. That blow probably would have knocked anyone else out, but this was Lee with his utterly insane level of pain tolerance, made up of equal parts conditioning and boneheaded stubbornness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He swayed in place and shot her a thumbs-up. “Ah yeah,” Lee slurred, clearly not okay, “jus’ swell!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I doubt that,” Tenten snorted and walked over to him. Grabbing Lee’s arm, she slung it around her shoulders. “Come on, let’s go find Sakura and get you some ice.” She might have been pissed at him, but he was still her teammate and friend. It was her job to take care of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they walked through the small wooded area outside the training hall, Lee spoke up. “Tenten?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am sorry. I did not mean to leave you behind. You were right, I should have asked Shikamaru why you were not with us.” He looked ashamed, and Tenten suddenly felt bad for yelling at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She offered him a smile and gave his hand a little squeeze. “It’s alright, Lee. You learned your lesson at least.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, definitely.” He winced and leaned more of his weight on her, sending a spear of guilt through her heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry about that. I went way overboard.” Tenten sighed and looked away from him. “I was just really mad.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand. Better to let your anger out than let it fester within you. That’s why we’re always trying to get you to open up, Tenten.” He smiled at her. “You are a very private person, even more so than Neji, which is surprising.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Neji? Private?” She let out a snort. “You’re talking about the guy who aired all the Hyuuga’s dirty laundry at the Chunin Exams with everyone in the village watching. He’s about as private as a mixed onsen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That… is a very strange analogy, but somehow it works.” Lee shook his head. “This is off-topic. You are exceptionally private, Tenten. I mean, we know next to nothing about you, and we are your teammates! While being private is okay, it also means you never share your feelings with anyone, and that can be very dangerous.” Lee straightened up and turned her to face him. “Please, Tenten, open up to someone. I do not wish to see you fall on the same path as Sasuke.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the—” Tenten nervously laughed. She had never seen Lee this serious before, not even at the Chunin Exams. “What does Sasuke have to do with any of this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“His is a classic case of refusing to open up gone too far. When you talk to others about your problems, sometimes a new solution can be found through others’ perspectives. He did not tell any of his team what he was going through or how he felt about it, and it led him down a dark path because he felt that his only solution was to take that path.” His gaze grew distant. “Sometimes… sometimes you cannot solve all of your problems on your own. Sometimes you need help, and you have to be able to recognize and accept that some things are beyond you, and trust that a friend or a mentor can give you good advice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lee…” she stared at him in awe. “When did you get so smart?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is all thanks to Gai-sensei’s wisdom!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure it is.” She nodded sagely. “Now let’s hurry up and get you to Sakura so she can take a look at your face. Can you walk now?” She let him go and watched warily as he straightened up, swaying a little. “Oh, good.” She reached over and lightly poked the purpling skin of his cheek. “Sorry for going overboard.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I already told you Tenten, you do not need to apologize. You had every right to be angry. It was an excellent move too. You picked the perfect moment to launch your attack and you won the spar, no question about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but you were stumbling around like a drunk person. What if you’ve got a concussion or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a thumbs-up and a gleaming smile, he declared, “I feel fine, Tenten, do not worry! In fact, I feel so good that I will run to the hospital!” A fire burned in his eyes. “We can race!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you crazy? It will </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>be a race. You’re way too fast for me.” Even as she spoke, she crouched down into a runner’s position, mentally mapping out the fastest route to the hospital.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She caught Lee’s amused look from the corner of her eye. “Not a race, eh?” He settled into the same position as her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shrugged, a grin tugging at her lips. “If I win, it’s a race. If I don’t beat you, it’s just you making bad decisions while I get dragged along for the ride.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is training really classified as a bad decision?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When you’re injured, it is. Sakura’s gonna yell at you for sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A slight flush tinted his cheeks. “If it is Sakura, I don’t think I would mind. And I would listen to her, of course.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten stared at him for a beat. “Lee, that’s the weirdest thing I have ever heard you say. But it’s sweet in an ‘I respect women’ kind of way. Sakura would be really lucky to have you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sakura-san is not obligated to return my feelings, though it would be nice if she did.” He shrugged. “Now, let’s race to the hospital with the power of youth to guide us!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, I just told you, it’s not a race unless I win!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you do win, I will run 500 laps around Konoha!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How about you buy me dumplings instead?” Tenten suggested, already imagining the taste of sesame dumplings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will do both!” He turned forward, determination shining in his eyes. “Ready… set…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go!” They yelled in unison and shot off, their feet pounding on the grass as they sprinted through the woods. Despite his injury and still having his weights on, Lee pulled ahead early.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Through the wind whistling in her ears, she heard him yell, “Come on, Tenten! Don’t fall behind so soon!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gritting her teeth, Tenten pumped chakra into her legs and closed the distance between them, still slightly behind. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wow, even with a handicap, he’s still winning.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Shaking aside the self-loathing for later (she could mope in the shower or something later, she supposed), she pushed herself harder, now neck-and-neck with Lee. They rounded a corner, Lee slamming into the opposite wall and denting it slightly, meaning Tenten was now in the lead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Grinning, she pumped more chakra to her legs and pushed herself more to capitalize on her advantage. She vaulted over a traveling merchant pushing his cart of wares, yelling an apology over her shoulder as she ran. Behind her, she heard a loud string of swear words and insults from the man as Lee did the same thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking over her shoulder to gauge Lee’s distance, she was taken by surprise when she saw him waving. “Neji!” he called, and Tenten whipped her head around to see Neji Hyuuga himself paused in the middle of the street, staring at them in utter confusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Neji!” she called. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tenten what on earth—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not now!” She blew past him, not looking back at him, her focus on the hospital and the tantalizing taste of hypothetical victory dumplings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning, my rival!” Tenten heard from behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why the hell are you two running?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Tenten and I…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten didn’t get to hear the rest of the conversation as she rounded another corner, the hospital now in view. Maybe with Lee distracted by Neji, she could win!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somehow, Lee managed to catch up at the final stretch and now they were once again side-by-side at the edge of the hospital grounds. They dashed across the grounds and up the path leading to the entrance, narrowly dodging everyone who was coming out of the hospital. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lee managed to pull ahead at the last second and threw the door open, sprinting inside with a triumphant yell that was cut short when he ate shit in the most spectacular manner, tripping over his foot and falling flat on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten doubled over and put her hands on her knees, desperately sucking in lungfuls of the antiseptic-scented air. She hadn’t run that hard in a bit and now she just wanted to lie down and not move for the next three to five days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My dumplings…” she mourned, dreams of delicious, steaming sesame dumplings fading away to be replaced with the disappointment of her loss. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even with Lee injured, using his weights, and her using her chakra, she was still slower than him by a long shot. Pathetic. She’d never amount to anything at this rate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell is going on here?” an authoritative voice demanded, cutting through Tenten’s haze of exhaustion and self-loathing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked up to see a head of pink hair and a pair of green eyes glaring daggers at her. “Oh,” she wheezed, “hey Sakura.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sakura-san!” Lee smiled at her but grimaced when it pulled at the purpling bruise on his cheek. “I am here to see you for an injury!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pink-haired girl put her hands on her hips and glared down at Lee. “So you </span>
  <em>
    <span>ran </span>
  </em>
  <span>to the hospital?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was racing Tenten!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.” Tenten shot him a shit-eating grin. “You were making bad decisions and I was dragged along for the ride.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tentennnnn,” Lee whined, pouting at her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why is all of Team Gai such a headache?” Sakura groaned, massaging her temples. “Neji was just in here for a wrist injury and Gai-sensei came in yesterday for a knee fracture.” She pointed at Tenten accusingly. “You four </span>
  <em>
    <span>idiots </span>
  </em>
  <span>do all sorts of reckless stuff just for fun!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“N-no,” Tenten stuttered, trying to come up with a decent excuse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She failed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, maybe. But it’s fine! It’s just training!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura threw her hands up in frustration. “That’s what you all say! What are your injuries?” She stared down Lee.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“During our earlier spar, Tenten took advantage of my distraction and kicked me in the face with a Dynamic Entry. It was an excellent move, and she fully deserved that win!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He was kinda stumbling around after and slurring his words so I’m worried he has a concussion,” Tenten added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Grabbing Lee by the arm, she dragged him behind her and gestured for Tenten to follow. “Come upstairs. I’ve got some studying to do so I’ll take a quick look at you so you don’t have to spend too much time waiting for a check-up. It’s not typical procedure, but just this once I’ll make an exception.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They trekked through the white-tiled building and up the stairs to the top floor, Sakura grumbling about ‘irresponsible morons’ the whole way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reaching the top floor, they walked down a long hallway, at the end of which, Sakura shoved open a door, revealing a spacious and open room lined with shelves of medical scrolls and textbooks. At the back of the room, Ino sat at a desk reading through a textbook and looked up at the sound of the door slamming into the wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blonde raised a single brow. “What’s got you so fired up now, Forehead?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“These idiots!” She sat Lee down at the table and ran a hand down her face. “Lee got injured during a spar and then raced Tenten to the hospital—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, that’s dumb,” Ino snorted. “Who gets injured and races someone to the hospital?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The idiots on Team Gai, apparently!” Sakura gestured at Lee, frustration evident in her tone. Setting a hand on his cheek, her hand glowed with gentle green chakra. “I thought you were the responsible one on the team, Tenten! Why are you enabling him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s part of the same team, Forehead.” Ino rolled her eyes at her friend. “Bold of you to assume she’s not just as much of an idiot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” Tenten glared at Ino, who just shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know I’m right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten couldn’t argue with that. Instead, she turned her attention back to Lee, who had flushed bright red at Sakura’s proximity. Internally, Tenten facepalmed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once she was done healing him, Sakura stepped back from Lee and put her hands on her hips, staring him down. “Now, you listen up.” She turned her glare on Tenten. “This goes for you too. I never want that to happen again, understand? If it does, I’ll throw you out of the hospital myself. If you exert yourself while injured, you have the chance of making those injuries even worse…” Sakura continued to lecture the two of them, but Tenten had long since tuned her out to examine some medical seals she had spotted on a scroll nearby. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She loved Sakura, she really did, but right now those seals were looking mighty interesting, especially given that she was going to have that meeting later tonight with Genma-san.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Speaking of which, she should really go and try to figure out more about this guy. Who else would know more about him? Gai-sensei would, for sure, and probably Kakashi-sensei too, so she’d have to go see them after this. But maybe there was someone else she could ask? After all, the more information she had, the better her chances were of convincing him to teach her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” Tenten was jolted back to attention when Sakura snapped her fingers in front of her face. “Are you paying attention to me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” she put on a sweet smile, “I’m always listening to you, Sakura.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure you are. I saw you looking at those seals.” She let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead. “What’s the point of lecturing you two anyway? You’ll just come back next week for another injury.” She waved her hand at the door. “You’re all set. Try and stay safe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lee hopped off the desk. “I look forward to seeing you again, Sakura-san!” He blew her a kiss and ran out of the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten stopped at the door and turned around. “Hey, I have a quick question.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, what’s up?” Sakura asked, picking up the textbook Ino had been reading and leafing through it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have either of you heard of someone named Genma Shiranui?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura frowned. “No, I haven’t. Sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I think I know him!” Ino eagerly waved her hand as if she were a student at the Academy waiting to be called on by the teacher. “He’s Shizune-senpai’s fuckbuddy!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ino!” Sakura dropped the book and smacked Ino’s shoulder, making her wince and rub at it. “How do you even know that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Geez Forehead, control that monster strength of yours.” Ino rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I once saw him leave with Shizune-senpai when she was at the hospital so I asked who he was and if he was her boyfriend. She told me his name was Genma and that ‘it wasn’t exactly dating’ which is what adults say when they’re fuckbuddies.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, so I can ask Shizune-san about him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, yeah.” Ino narrowed her eyes at Tenten. “Why are you so interested in him anyway? Isn’t he a little old for you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A furious blush exploded across Tenten’s face as Ino cackled at her. “That’s not it at all, geez! Kakashi-sensei said he knows a jutsu I wanna learn so I just wanted to know a bit more about him before I went and asked him to teach me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop harassing her Ino.” Sakura smiled at Tenten. “Well, it sounds like Shizune-senpai knows him, so you can ask her.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “Actually, she should be on her way here right now, so if you wait here for a bit, you can talk to her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, that’s not a problem. I’ll just take a peek at those seals while I’m waiting.” Tenten made grabby hands at the nearby pile of scrolls. Sakura laughed, gesturing for her to go ahead and Tenten eagerly grabbed a few.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she looked over them, one thing immediately stood out. Medical seals were </span>
  <em>
    <span>massive</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The scroll Tenten was looking at was as tall as she was, if not taller, probably around seven feet long when fully extended, and covered from end to end with fuin-code.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Holy crap Sakura, what’s this seal for? It’s huge!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm?” Sakura looked over from where she was perched on the desk next to Ino, craning her neck to see the scroll. “Oh, that’s just a part of the whole seal. That part is one of the four corners where a medic’s supposed to sit, and you can tell because of the solid black part at the top. The full thing takes up an entire room. That’s the reference sheet so that medical-sealers-in-training can learn it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what does the whole thing do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It uses the chakra of four medics to heal large, normally fatal wounds. It’s not used often, because very few people make it back to the hospital in bad enough condition to warrant its use. In fact, this was the seal used to heal Neji after he was almost killed on the mission to bring back—” She cut herself off and an air of gloom settled over her. “Sasuke-kun,” she mumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten exchanged a concerned look with Ino, who grabbed Sakura’s arm and directed her attention back to her. “All right Forehead,” she said in a cheerful voice, “come sit down and keep telling me about the nervous system. If I don’t pass the next exam, Shizune-senpai’s gonna murder me.” Ino dragged Sakura back to the desk, mouthing an apology to Tenten over her shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten waved her off with a smile. A broken heart wasn’t an easy fix, after all. Trusting that Ino would be an effective distraction for Sakura, Tenten turned her attention back to the seal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If the seal used chakra from four medics, each seated at a corner, she’d have to start there and work inward to properly understand it. She looked at the lines of code coming from the blacked-out corner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lines of fuin-code coming from the corner were standard chakra absorption and dispersion code. They took chakra from the medic and sent it through the seal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Moving inward, the code doubled in complexity. Here, it seemed to be more focused on… changing something? The character for ‘cell’ was used a lot, so maybe they had to change cells into something else?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Sakura, how is this seal used? Can you walk me through the procedure?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura perked up again, the air of gloom gone and her eyes glowing with delight. Behind her, Ino rolled her eyes. “Oh boy,” she said with a fond smile at her friend, “now you’ve done it. She’s gonna talk your ear off until Shizune-senpai gets here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sakura grabbed a book from the shelves and practically bounced over to where Tenten sat on the floor. After a quick look at the table of contents, she flipped rapidly through the pages until she reached a two-page diagram of a seal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so, this is called the Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique. As I said before, four medics sit at the corners of the seal to heal very severe, life-threatening injuries. The patient is placed on the floor and the seal formula is drawn around them. A sample of their cells, typically a chunk of hair, is placed near their injury. The medics channel their chakra through the seal to convert the sample cells into the cells that are needed to mend the wound. This is a really delicate task, so all of the medics are required to have top-tier chakra control, in the 90th percentile or higher.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No wonder the seal took up an entire room. With a delicate operation like this one, it was better for the seal to be big and incredibly precise, rather than small and hoping for accuracy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Most combat seals were made small (and thereby quick to cast) by simplifying the fuin-code as much as possible, but that also led to the unfortunate side effect that they couldn’t be too precise with the finer details of the code’s functions. Unless, of course, you were a truly prodigious sealer, but that was only in very </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> rare cases, like Yondaime-sama or Nidaime-sama.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(Tenten fully intended to be one of those rare cases, but that was beside the point here.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another look at the seal revealed that this layer of it was composed of code that was dependent on the amount of chakra the medic channeled. Based on Sakura’s explanation and the bits of code she could decipher, this part of the seal changed the cells from the sample into a different type of cell, based on the amount of chakra it received. Even more impressive was that the differences in chakra levels for the creation of each type of cell were very small. That explained why such precise chakra control was needed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she took another look at the full seal in the book, Tenten suddenly recognized the code in the center of the seal. “Hey, that’s a stasis seal at the center!” She eagerly grabbed the book from Sakura. “It’s in a circular format instead of linear, which is usually used in combat, but with a multilayered geometric seal like this one, it makes more sense to use the circular seal since each of the other shapes has an even number of points, and a circular seal has no points.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Incredible,” Ino drawled somewhere off to their left, “so many words were just said, and yet, I understood none of them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Tenten opened her mouth for a rebuttal, the door to the room slammed open with a tremendous bang, making Tenten leap up and grab a kunai from her pouch, pointing it at the figure in the doorway on instinct.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the doorway, an out-of-breath Shizune stood with her hands on her knees. Seeing her, Tenten relaxed and returned the kunai to her pouch. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry I’m late,” the black-haired woman panted, straightening up and adjusting her dress. “I had… someone over this morning.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oooh, was it that Genma guy?” Ino leaned over the desk and put her chin in her hand, waggling her eyebrows at the flustered older woman. “Did you two spend the night—” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ino yelped as Sakura grabbed the back of her shirt and yanked her back into her seat. “Stop harassing everyone and get back to studying, Ino-pig. The nervous system is one of the trickiest ones because it’s so delicate and if you don’t learn it well, you’ll never be able to pass your test and start medic-nin training.” Ino pouted at her but plopped down and yanked her book back toward her mumbling under her breath about geniuses with oversized foreheads. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry about that, Shizune-senpai.” Sakura dipped her head at the older woman, who waved her off, the flush on her face still prominent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, it’s okay Sakura. Ino is my student, after all. I really should be used to these questions by now.” She leveled a hard look at the blonde girl, who cringed a little. “I hope you’re ready for that test.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tenten wanted to talk to you about Genma-san,” Ino said weakly, clearly trying to divert the older woman’s attention. It worked, and Shizune turned to Tenten with a smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Genma? Why do you want to know about him, if you don’t mind my asking?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten hopped up from the floor and kicked the massive scroll closed. She’d have to come back here later and check out all of the seals. “Ah, I’m trying to learn a new jutsu and Kakashi-sensei said Genma-san knows it. I’m supposed to meet him tonight and ask him to teach it to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see. Well, what do you want to know about him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten shrugged. “I guess just what kind of ninja he is and stuff. Oh, and how to make him listen to me and take me seriously.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm.” She nodded, gesturing for Tenten to follow her to the nearby bookshelf. As she bustled around, picking out books and setting them on the floor, she spoke. “Well, Genma’s a tokubetsu jounin and former ANBU, which should tell you about his skill level. He prefers close combat, much like your sensei. They were on the same genin team, actually.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Kakashi-sensei said the same thing, but when sensei introduced us to his old team like a year ago, he wasn’t there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He was probably on a mission, then.” She rolled her eyes. “Or chatting up some woman. That man…” Shizune shook her head. “That’s beside the point. If you want him to take you seriously, you’ll have to prove that you’re skilled at the basics that build up to the jutsu you’re aiming to learn, which is…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hiraishin no jutsu.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shock flitted over Shizune’s features. “That’s a highly advanced space-time ninjutsu. You said Kakashi told you to talk to Genma?” When Tenten nodded, Shizune continued, “Well, if he okayed it, you must have the level of skill necessary. When did Kakashi tell you to meet Genma?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tonight. Kakashi-sensei said he was eating dinner at the Yakiniku Q with some of his friends.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tonight?” Shizune shook her head. “There’s no need to wait that long. I can take you to him now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? Kakashi-sensei said he was on a mission.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s at Tsunade-sama’s office with the rest of the Hokage Guard Platoon.” She let out a snort and crossed her arms. “The lazy bum probably didn’t want to be bothered today and told everyone he was on a mission.” Picking up some of the books she had set on the floor, she asked, “Would you mind helping me with these?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten grabbed the remaining books, which was no easy task since they were all massive medical textbooks thick enough to be used as pillows. With the stack of books securely in her arms, she waddled after Shizune to the desk where Ino and Sakura sat, poring over textbooks of their own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a thud, Shizune and Tenten set their stacks down, startling the two girls from their studying. “Okay, Ino,” Shizune put her hands on her hips. “I’ll be gone for about ten minutes. While I’m gone, I want you to start reading up on different types of poisons. By the time I come back, I want you to be able to name at least five different types of simple poisons and their effects on the body. Understood?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes ma’am!” Ino saluted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good.” Shizune turned to Tenten. “Are you ready to go talk to Genma now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten frowned, a sudden flood of doubt halting what should have been an easy answer. “Uh, are you sure he’ll accept me as his student?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shizune raised a brow at her. “Where did this sudden insecurity come from? You were so confident before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten looked down at the floor. “It’s just that I don’t know if he’ll think I’m good enough to be his student. I’m not… anything special.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing special?” Shizune let out an incredulous laugh. “I heard you and Sakura talking about the Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique earlier. Any genin that knows about multilayered geometric seals and how the number of points affects a layered seal is remarkable indeed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the praise, Tenten felt her face heat up and she looked up. “Thank you, Shizune-san.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shizune put a warm hand on Tenten’s shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. “Genma may be a cocky bastard, but even he’d be impressed by a genin who knows as much about sealing as you do, I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I really hope so,” Tenten mumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Trust me, he’ll take you on. Now,” she said, sweeping her hand toward the door, “let’s go talk to him. Ino, when I’m back, you’d better be ready for your test.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blonde girl cringed and Sakura put a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be fine, Ino. We’ll see you soon, Shizune-senpai!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten and Shizune stepped out of the room and headed down the stairs to the ground floor. Full of nervous energy, Tenten hopped down the stairs, jumping railings and doing random flips in an attempt to let some of it go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they stepped into the main entrance, Shizune pushed open the hospital’s front door and the two of them stepped outside, Tenten squinting against the bright sunlight assaulting her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they went along the main road to Hokage Tower, Tenten spoke up. “Shizune-san, you said Genma-san was part of the Hokage Guard Platoon. What’s that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, they’re a group of three tokubetsu jounin who are assigned to protect the Hokage. They are Iwashi Tatami, Raido Namiashi, and Genma Shiranui. During the Yondaime’s reign, he taught them how to use his Hiraishin no jutsu, but it takes all three of them to use it, so they gave it a different name: Hiraijin no jutsu.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All three?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The disappointment must have shown on her face because Shizune started to laugh. “Don’t worry Tenten, I’m sure he can teach you to wield it by yourself. There’s a very specific reason that those three needed to work together to use the jutsu.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll let Genma tell you about that.” She fell silent for a beat, and then, “Also, remind me to let you into the medical sealing section later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Medical sealing section?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shizune nodded. “Mm. Medical ninjutsu uses a lot of seals so we have reference scrolls in the hospital’s library, where we just were. Since you’re so interested in sealing, I was thinking I could let you take a look at more seals that aren’t just used for combat purposes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh yes please!” Tenten fought the urge to start hopping up and down. “The public library doesn’t let genin access any of the higher-level sealing books. I even asked Sayaka if she’d let me check out just </span>
  <em>
    <span>one </span>
  </em>
  <span>chunin-level book and she said no!” Tenten pouted and kicked at a rock on the road. “Jerk,” she grumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A sudden idea occurred to her. “Would it be possible for you to convince Tsunade-sama to let me into the chunin section?” Tenten whined. Realizing what she had just implied, her eyes widened and she waved her hands around frantically. “I’d still really like to look at the medical seals, of course! But… being able to look at the books in the chunin section would also be nice.” She looked at Shizune’s expression and felt her heart sink. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rules are rules, Tenten. Those texts are separated by rank for a reason. Some techniques are far too dangerous for lower-ranked shinobi to attempt—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So they can’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>read </span>
  </em>
  <span>about the technique?” Tenten threw her hands in the air. “That’s so stupid!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shizune gave Tenten a look. “Are you telling me if you learned that a technique existed and you might be able to do it, you wouldn’t attempt it on your own? Don’t even try to deny it, I heard about what happened to Lee and Neji during your first attempts at sealing jutsu.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah…” Tenten cringed. “That was… an accident.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure it was,” Shizune said, smirking a little. “Neji wrote about the incident at length on the mission report. He was quite upset with the fact that, and I quote, ‘Tenten’s carelessness with her seals lead to my having to flop around on the ground like a distressed fish until she was able to undo the seal’. When she read that, Tsunade-sama couldn’t stop laughing for the next five minutes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten felt her face heat and she looked away, clenching her fists.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She needed more control over her sealing jutsu. Sure, that whole incident had been months ago, but just yesterday she had been kicked out of her apartment for that mishap with the exploding tag. If Genma-san was good enough to perform the Hiraishin no jutsu, then he had to be good enough with sealing jutsu to teach her better control. She’d have to ask him for that too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tenten,” Shizune’s voice drew Tenten from her thoughts, “Genma can teach you how to properly use sealing jutsu too, you know. He is quite skilled at them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten squinted suspiciously at her. “Are you reading my mind or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shizune laughed. “Part of my training with Tsunade-sama was learning how to read people’s facial expressions to gauge their thoughts. You looked frustrated, and based on our discussion, it was probably at your lack of control over sealing jutsu."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh wow, I gotta learn how to do that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shizune laughed. "All in due time." She turned away from Tenten and looked up. "</span>
  <span>Ah, we’re here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten turned to see Hokage Tower looming above her. One of the windows of the Hokage’s office was broken, and two shinobi were carrying a chair up the stairs, grumbling something as they went inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Next to her, Shizune let out a long-suffering sigh. “Ah, Tsunade-sama must have gotten angry about her paperwork again.” She ran a hand down her face, the slightest hint of irritation showing in her expression. “Well, I’ll worry about that later. For now, let’s go talk to Genma.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They climbed the stairs and went inside. “He should be on the second floor.” Shizune informed her, walking across the lobby to the stairwell and holding the open for her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten stepped past her and asked, “You’re not coming with me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh no, I’m coming with you.” Shizune smiled at her. “Don’t worry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten climbed up the stairs, a ball of nervousness sitting heavy in her stomach. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What if Genma-san said no? What if he decided she was too average and didn’t have the skill necessary to learn Hiraishin? He’d probably been in the room at the sudden death round of the chunin exams, so he’d seen her humiliating defeat at Temari’s hands. If his only evaluation of her fighting skills was that match, he definitely wouldn’t think she was good enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can hear you overthinking this, Tenten,” Shizune said, the slightest hint of laughter in her tone. “Trust me, you’re going to be fine.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Reaching the second floor, she opened the door and they stepped into a lobby identical to the one on the first floor. Heading down the left hallway, Shizune stopped in front of the first door in the hall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is the Jounin Standby Station, where the village’s jounin like to take breaks between missions.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She opened the door to reveal a large sitting room with couches and tables scattered throughout. At one table, two men were sitting across from one another and playing cards, while a third man watched them as he sat at another table, leaning his chair back with his feet resting on the table’s surface.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s also the permanent office of the laziest unit in the village, the Hokage Guard Platoon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At Shizune’s words, the two men playing cards let out small chuckles without looking up from their game. One had a strange wrinkly scar across the bridge of his nose leading to the left side of his face, while the other was plain-faced and sported a small goatee. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The person sitting at the other table, a guy with shoulder-length brown hair and a senbon in his mouth, slowly dragged his eyes over Shizune’s figure before smirking. “Nice to see you again, Shizune. You make it to the hospital okay this morning?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shizune flushed lightly and crossed her arms. “Yes, and just barely on time, no thanks to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His smirk grew wider, the senbon gleaming in the light. “You tellin’ me you didn’t enjoy yourself this morning? If not, I’d be more than willing to make it up to you tonight. When are you off?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can discuss that later.” Shizune flushed even more and turned to Tenten. As she did, the man’s attention switched to her as well. Shizune gestured at him. “This pain in the ass is Genma Shiranui.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re</span>
  </em>
  <span> Genma Shiranui?” Tenten stared in shock for a moment, her voice filled with disbelief. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This </span>
  </em>
  <span>was her sensei’s former teammate? She had been expecting someone a bit more… eccentric-looking to complete the team. In contrast to Gai-sensei, Choza-san, and Ebisu-san, this guy was just so </span>
  <em>
    <span>plain</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The one and only.” Genma straightened up, setting the legs of his chair down on the ground with a clack. “What can I do for you, kid?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The memory of Shizune’s reassurances rang in her ears and Tenten felt a bit of her confidence come back. Mustering up all of it, she asked, “Shiranui-san, could you please teach me to use Hiraishin no Jutsu?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pure shock flitted over his face before being quickly replaced by a neutral mask. “Hiraishin, huh?” He eyed her suspiciously. “Where did you find out that I know it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi-sensei told me!” She shot him a winning smile, praying that he would agree to help her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the other two jounin listening intently, card game abandoned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm.” Genma looked her up and down. “You one of his genin? I thought the girl on his team had pink hair.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten shook her head. “No, I’m one of Gai-sensei’s genin,” she said, carefully watching his facial expression for any hint of refusal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Genma grinned. “Gai’s genin, huh? Damn, that takes me back to </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>genin years. We were little shits, weren’t we? Ran circles around Choza-sensei and used to torture poor Ebisu all day.” He let out a loud laugh, throwing his head back and the senbon nearly fell out of his mouth. “What’s a genin like you gonna do with an upper-level technique like Hiraishin, anyway? There’s no way you know enough about sealing or space-time ninjutsu to pull it off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah actually, I think I do.” Tenten took a deep breath to calm herself down. This was when she had to show her stuff. “I’ve been studying sealing since the Academy and started making my own seals about halfway through my first year as a genin. I’ve been researching seals for a while now and I can even do sealing jutsu. Oh, and I make my own storage scrolls and I use them in combat.” She pulled one out of her ever-present thigh holsters and handed it to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He opened it and looked over the code, eyes widening. “Damn, that’s impressive, using your blood as the indicator for the activation of the propulsion code. Did you come up with this yourself, kid?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten nodded, smiling nervously. Was that enough to prove anything to him?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Behind her, Shizune let out a little snort. “She’s impressive. You should have heard her a while ago when she was talking with Sakura about the Healing Resuscitation Regeneration Technique. She rattled off information about multilayered geometric seals without a second’s hesitation. You’d have been impressed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm.” He leaned his chair back again, looking back at the other two jounin. “Raido, Iwashi, what do you think?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nervously, Tenten looked over at the other two jounin. The scarred one spoke up first. “I recently got to read one of her team’s mission reports because it apparently had Hokage-sama in stitches when she read it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Genma raised a brow at him. “Yeah? What was in it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shizune, knowing what was coming, started to laugh and Tenten’s face burned. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh, come on! Shizune-san </span>
  </em>
  <span>just </span>
  <em>
    <span>made fun of me for that!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“The kid accidentally sealed her teammates with two types of body-binding seals. One was for arms, the other was for legs. The Hyuuga kid was the one writing the mission report and he seemed pretty upset about having to flop around like a fish until she freed him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Genma let out a delighted laugh. “Damn, nice job kid.” When he caught her expression, his tone shifted to something more genuine. “No, really. If you can unconsciously apply body-binding seals to people, imagine what you could do if you consciously tried to put a seal on someone.” He smiled at her and stood up. “You’ve convinced me. I’ll teach you Hiraishin.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten gasped and clasped her hands together. “Really? Thank you Shiranui-san!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He waved his hand in a dismissive motion. “Just Genma is fine, kid. Genma-sensei, if you insist on an honorific. What’s your name?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tenten.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice to meet you, Tenten. Oi, you two fuckers.” Genma looked over at the other two jounin. “Introduce yourselves. You’ll be teaching her too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man with the goatee smiled at her. “Tatami Iwashi. Iwashi-sensei is fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Namiashi Raido,” the scarred man said. “I look forward to teaching you, Tenten.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, I look forward to learning from you, Raido-sensei, Iwashi-sensei, Genma-sensei.” She bowed to them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kids these days, all so fuckin’ formal.” Tenten straightened up to see Genma rolling his eyes. “No need for any of that here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tenten.” Shizune put a hand on her shoulder. “I have to head back to the hospital, okay? I’ll see you later, and once I get Tsunade-sama’s approval, I’ll let you into the sealing section at the hospital library.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No problem, Shizune-san.” Tenten smiled at her, grateful. “Thanks for everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, Tenten. I’m always happy to help.” She turned to Genma. “I’ll be off at 8, if you want to come pick me up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course.” He smiled indolently at her. “Do you want to get dinner first, or should we skip right on to the night’s festivities?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How about we talk about that when you come to the hospital?” Shizune shot a meaningful look at him and gestured at Tenten.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Genma nodded. “Sure. I’ll see you later then, Shizune.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a smile at the other two jounin, Shizune stepped out, leaving Tenten with her new teachers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, onto actual business. Iwashi, give me a rundown on her chakra.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s got wind-natured fuinjutsu-type chakra,” Iwashi said, walking toward them and plopping down next to Genma. He directed his next words at Tenten. “Your chakra’s yin heavy, and swirls out from your core. It tends to move out to the fingers and then bleeds off from there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bleeds off?” She squinted at her hands. “What’s that mean? And what does wind nature have to do with my chakra type?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Raido began to explain. “Chakra ‘bleeding off’ is when your body produces extra chakra and doesn’t need it for anything so it just expels it.” Pulling out a kunai, Raido spun it on the table. “Now, you have fuinjutsu type chakra, which likes to rotate. Most people with that type of chakra end up having wind or water type chakra nature since both of those elements tend to swirl as well. “Water chakra is blunt, thick, and it rotates slowly, but powerfully.” Raido stopped the kunai and then spun it again, but faster. “Wind chakra, like yours, is sharp, thin, and rotates faster.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All this makes our job way easier too,” Genma said. “With fuinjutsu-type chakra, you can do this jutsu on your own, like Minato-sama used to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At that, Tenten grinned, already visualizing herself flashing around a battlefield. Once she learned the jutsu, Neji was going to be the slowpoke on the team! She cackled internally until a sudden thought struck her. “Oh yeah, that reminds me, Shizune-san said it takes all three of you to do the Hiraishin. Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not telling her.” Iwashi put his hands up. “I don’t feel like lecturing today. One of you do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not me.” Genma eyed Raido, who let out a groan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lazy bums,” Raido grumbled. Letting out a sigh, he turned to her. “There are different types of chakra suited to different types of jutsu. Iwashi and Genma have stealth type chakra, so their chakra wasn’t suited to the Hiraishin seal because stealth chakra tends to naturally suppress itself. It would be hard to sense their formula marks. I’ve got taijutsu type chakra, so my chakra’s too heavy and volatile for the seal and also doesn’t really want to come out of my body. It’s also yang natured, the opposite of all seal chakra, which is yin natured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“With all these issues, Yondaime-sama decided that the three of us should have a joint seal instead. My heavier, easier to sense taijutsu chakra would make up for their light stealth chakra, and the more balanced stealth chakra would decrease the volatility of my taijutsu chakra. It worked out, and we ended up with a stable seal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten nodded and pulled out the Yondaime’s kunai, setting it on the table. “How exactly does this seal work?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iwashi’s eyes widened. “Where did you get that from?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, the passages behind Hokage Rock. Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Only Kakashi has one of these.” Iwashi reverently touched the handle, his fingers lingering on the seal before he pulled away. “Yondaime-sama had no problem with marking anyone with his seal formula, but only Kakashi, as his student who made jounin at the ripe old age of 10, was given an actual kunai.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should I give this to Kakashi-sensei, then?” Tenten picked it back up and twirled it around in her hand. She had grown rather fond of the kunai, though. It had become sort of like a good luck charm in the short time she had been in possession of it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Genma shook his head. “Eh, I think it’ll be fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re getting off topic,” Raido reminded them. “Someone tell her about the seal. I explained chakra, so it’s going to be one of you two.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten glared at the three of them. “You guys really are the village’s laziest unit, huh? You can’t even be bothered to explain anything to anyone!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, I’d call it saving energy.” Genma grinned. “Anyway, the seal holds a bit of your chakra, so you basically reverse-summon yourself to your own chakra. You can teleport to a mark, or teleport a marked object to yourself. To make that work, the seal has to be a two-way summoning seal so it can go either way.” He gestured at the Yondaime’s kunai. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yondaime-sama took all the code necessary for that and managed to condense that to four kanji. Our seal, being a joint seal, needs a little more code, so it’s bigger, slightly larger than Niidaime-sama’s seal formula, which isn’t massive, but still nothing compared to the efficiency of Yondaime-sama’s. That’s the level you should hope to get to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Genma.” Iwashi leaned forward. “The first thing you need to do is make a seal formula. Genma’s the fuinjutsu expert between the three of us, so he can give you some tips, but you’re going to have to create and refine the seal yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten nodded. “That’s fine. When do we start?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Genma let out a sigh. “You kids are always in such a rush. If you’re so eager, I’ll come find you after you’re done training with your team tomorrow. Your team uses Training Ground 6, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. We get done by noon, I think.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good. We can have lunch and start planning out your seal formula. There’s not really anything we can do now anyway.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, sounds good.” Tenten stood up, putting Yondaime-sama’s kunai back in her pouch and made to leave. “Thank you, Genma-sensei, Raido-sensei, Iwashi-sensei.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, one last thing, Tenten,” Genma called, making her stop and turn around. “I watched your team during training once. To properly use Hiraishin to its fullest power in combat, you need to get a lot faster, and soon. I think you know a way to do that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do?” Tenten frowned. Well, from the sound of it, she needed a way to gain a lot of speed in a short time while simultaneously improving her reaction time to match that speed. Something like… </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lee’s weights!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>All three jounin smiled in approval. “Exactly,” Genma said. “If you ask Gai whenever you see him next, I’m sure he won’t have any problem with giving them to you. Hell, that Lee kid’ll probably be over the moon that he has a partner for his weight training.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right!” She bowed to the three jounin. “Thanks again! I’ll see you tomorrow, Genma-sensei!” She dashed out of the waiting room, practically vibrating with excitement. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m gonna learn Hiraishin!</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>how'd you like your crash course on chakra theory? anyway, there'll be more fic coming soon, for real this time, because I already have most of the next chapter written. Once I get back from this stupid trip, I'll post it.</p><p>as always, comments are much appreciated, or you can come yell at me on <a href="https://erumai-maadu.tumblr.com/">my tumblr</a> where the inbox is always open and anon always on.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>hey wait a minute, there's a side plot now. how'd that get there? *squints at notes* what do you MEAN I made it main plot-relevant? There was supposed to be one plot, goddamn it! ONE!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>note: any time Tenten and Li-Fen talk and it's just the two of them, assume they're speaking in Chinese unless narration says otherwise.</p><p>I updated so soon?? yeah, just this once. don't get used to it, I'm unreliable. alex I'll give you your nejiten hurt/comfort sometime before chapter 4. maybe. again, I'm unreliable. anyway, enjoy &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Hunting down Gai-sensei was not an easy task.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, she </span>
  <em>
    <span>found </span>
  </em>
  <span>him easily enough. He was so loud that Tenten could hear his voice echoing down Hokage Rock as he and Kakashi-sensei did another one of their insane challenges.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No, the hard part was actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>getting</span>
  </em>
  <span> to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which was why she was here now, using her chakra to climb up Hokage Rock like a spider so she could reach the top, where her insane sensei and his equally insane… partner (Rival-with-benefits? Sort-of-boyfriend? Almost-husband?) were racing one another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To her smug satisfaction, Gai-sensei was winning, which was to be expected. When it came to purely physical challenges like this one, Gai-sensei had Kakashi-sensei outclassed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Scrabbling to the top, she hauled herself up and let out a groan when she saw how far off the pair were, and getting further away by the second. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gai-sensei!” she shouted and sprinted after them. “Wait!” Seeing that she wasn’t getting any closer to them, she pumped chakra into her legs, giving herself a boost of speed. “Gai-sensei!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi-sensei looked back and saw her, to her relief, and called out to her sensei. “Gai! Pause for a second! Tenten needs to talk to you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gai-sensei immediately turned around and ran toward Tenten, his ever-present smile stretching even wider at the sight of her. “Tenten, my dear lotus! Are you here to participate in our challenge as well?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh hell no,” Tenten panted, doubling over. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>hell no.</span>
  </em>
  <span> I have some new training I wanna do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course!” He struck his Nice Guy Pose. “Tell me what you need, my dear, and I will do everything I can to help you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Genma-sensei told me I needed to get faster for Hiraishin, so I was thinking that maybe I could use weights like Lee’s to do that quickly.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gai-sensei didn’t hesitate for a second. “Of course, Tenten! I’m so proud of my wonderful student for taking full advantage of her fiery youth! I’ll get you started right away, and Lee can give you some tips at training tomorrow. I will be back in two minutes with your weights, and that’s a promise!” He barreled off into the distance, leaving behind a trail of dust and his distant laughter echoing through the air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, leg weights, huh?” Kakashi-sensei raised a brow at her. “I take it Genma said yes to teaching you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten nodded. “Raido-sensei and Iwashi-sensei are also teaching me since it takes all three of them to do the jutsu. I think Genma-sensei’s gonna be my main teacher though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm.” He nodded and pulled out </span>
  <em>
    <span>Icha Icha Paradise</span>
  </em>
  <span>, opening the worn little orange book to the first page. “Having Raido train you will be good. He’s a kenjutsu master, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about Iwashi-sensei?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi-sensei sighed. “He’s a sensory nin, so he’ll be helpful when you’re learning Hiraishin, but otherwise, I don’t think he has anything to teach you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t seem to like him very much,” Tenten observed, noting his pinched brow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Iwashi… He’s very haughty around those he knows well, and since you’re his student, you’re gonna have to learn how to deal with that.” Kakashi-sensei pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good guy, but sometimes his attitude is irritating. I’ve had my fair share of disagreements with him over the years.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Over what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shrugged. “All sorts of things from missions to food to taste in books.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten eyed the little orange book in his hands. “I have to say that I think your taste in books is actually decent, Kakashi-sensei.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He let out a little amused snort. “And what would you know about the books I read?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve read</span>
  <em>
    <span> Icha Icha</span>
  </em>
  <span> before, you know. It’s surprisingly good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His one visible eye widened comically. “What? But—” He frantically pointed at the ‘R-18’ rating on the back cover. “You can’t— You’re not supposed to—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A rating on a back cover isn’t going to stop me, Kakashi-sensei.” Tenten grinned at the conflicting emotions visible in his eye.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you even get your hands on it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My sister.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have a sister?” Kakashi-sensei frowned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, but that’s not the point.” Tenten shook her head. “I can’t believe Iwashi-sensei can’t appreciate </span>
  <em>
    <span>Icha Icha</span>
  </em>
  <span>! The writing is really good, and it’s got a solid plot with a lot of emotional twists that are super unexpected.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, right?” Kakashi-sensei said excitedly. “The plot is beautiful! A man and woman, new to love and—” He stopped, the small patch of visible skin on his face turning red. “I can’t discuss this with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, sex?” Kakashi-sensei made a choking noise and Tenten rolled her eyes. “I’m 14, not 4.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“14 is still too young,” Kakashi-sensei said, looking around nervously. “If Gai learns about this, he’ll kill me for sure. He already goes off on rants when he sees </span>
  <em>
    <span>me </span>
  </em>
  <span>reading </span>
  <em>
    <span>Icha Icha</span>
  </em>
  <span> in front of my team, so what’s he gonna say when he finds out one of his </span>
  <em>
    <span>students </span>
  </em>
  <span>has read it?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stowed his book away and walked up to her, grabbing her shoulders and lightly shaking her. “Under no circumstances—and I mean </span>
  <em>
    <span>none</span>
  </em>
  <span>—can you tell Gai about this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine, fine.” Tenten waved her hand dismissively and Kakashi-sensei stepped back, his relief evident. “But back to Icha Icha, that subplot with Junko’s family was so interesting, and the way it tied back to the main story was beautiful.” Tenten clasped her hands together. “The emotional turmoil…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kakashi-sensei nodded. “It was incredible. I loved how Jiraiya-sensei managed to tie in that part with Junko’s mother to the villain.” He stopped and grabbed at his hair. “I cannot be discussing this with you!” He started pacing, frantically mumbling under his breath. Tenten managed to catch the words “erotica”, “young child”, “Gai’s student”, and “I’m so dead”.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s just a book!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He whirled around and pointed accusingly at her. “Just yesterday you were bullying me for reading </span>
  <em>
    <span>Icha Icha</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was bullying you for reading it in public, Kakashi-sensei. I can’t make fun of you for reading it when I’ve also read it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve read</span>
  <em>
    <span> Icha Icha</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten froze, chills running down her spine. A glance at Kakashi-sensei revealed that he had gone pale, his visible eye wide and filled with fear. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten slowly turned around to see Gai-sensei staring at her in youthful horror.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you believe me if I said no?” she tried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you manage to get your hands on it?” he demanded, dropping the weights he was carrying. They landed on the ground with a tremendous boom and the rock underneath cracked.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Damn it, those are going on my legs! I’m gonna be walking like a turtle!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tenten, I’m asking you a very important question, please answer me.” Gai-sensei put his hands on her shoulders. “How did you manage to get a copy of that book?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My sister has the whole series so far. It’s the one thing she lets herself splurge on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gai-sensei frowned. “You have a sister?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten facepalmed. Lee was right, not even her team knew anything about her. “Yeah. She’s 19.” She peered around Gai-sensei to look at the weights he had dropped. An effective distraction. “Can I have my weights now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gai-sensei perked up. “Oh, of course!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Having successfully distracted her sensei, Tenten smiled at Kakashi, who relaxed and plopped onto the ground with a sigh of relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gai-sensei handed the weights to her. The moment she grabbed them, they succumbed to the force of gravity, and Tenten, unable to hold them up, was dragged to the ground too. “Holy crap, how much do these weigh?” She strained to lift them and eventually managed to pick them up, though her arms were shaking with the effort.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I started you off low, only 250 kilos.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Only</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” She stared in horror at her sensei and then at the weights in her hands. “Oh Kami, I’m going to die.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll have to work your way up to Lee’s level with the power of youth to guide you!” Gai-sensei struck his Nice Guy Pose. “I am confident in your ability to do so, Tenten!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m almost scared to ask how heavy Lee’s weights are,” she said dryly, sitting down to put her weights on. The moment she put the first one on, her leg dropped to the ground and she strained to lift it again. Forget walking, how was she going to </span>
  <em>
    <span>stand up</span>
  </em>
  <span>?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“About 4600 kilos.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“4600?” Tenten screeched, nearly dropping the second weight in shock. Saving it just in time, she fumbled with it to get the stupidly heavy thing onto her leg before it could cause any more damage to Hokage Rock. Finally getting it on, she made to get up and got about halfway there before falling flat on her ass again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Through sheer willpower (okay, fine, and some help from Gai-sensei) Tenten stood up. When she tried to take a step, her leg refused to budge. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She gestured at her legs. “I’m struggling with 250 and you want me to get to 4600?” Straining, she finally managed to take a single step and let out a groan. “It’s gonna take me the whole day just to get back to my apartment,” she said miserably.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If that’s the case, you should probably start now,” Kakashi-sensei said helpfully, smiling at her from behind his book. “Maybe you’ll make it back by dinner.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Tenten could move right now, he’d be dead. Luckily for him, the worst she could do was glare at him and inform him, “I hate you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maaa, Tenten-chan, that’s so mean. You’re hurting my feelings.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I could move right now, your feelings wouldn’t be the only thing hurting.” She tried to take another step, already feeling her thighs burning from exertion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kakashi, stop making fun of Tenten. My dear lotus is trying her hardest and is growing before our eyes!” Gai-sensei started tearing up. “I’m so proud of you, my dear!” He yanked her into a hug, bawling about fiery youth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sensei! You’re getting my shirt all wet! We’ve talked about this!” She attempted to extricate herself but having the damn weights on her legs meant she couldn’t go anywhere. “No hugs in public! We had a deal!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m just so moved by your determination, Tenten!” he sobbed. “I’m so lucky to have you as my student!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten threw a pleading look at Kakashi-sensei, who sighed and put his book away. Coming up to them, he put a hand on Gai-sensei’s shoulder. “Come on, Gai, let her start training. We’ve still got a challenge to complete, remember? If I’m not wrong, the score is 217-216, in my favor.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The tears instantly stopped. “You’re right!” Gai-sensei released Tenten and straightened up. “Good luck, dear lotus. I will see you at training tomorrow morning. Now then, off we go, Kakashi!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pair dashed off into the distance, leaving Tenten to make her way home at a snail’s pace.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Around noon, Tenten was halfway home and dead tired. Her legs ached fiercely and she knew that tomorrow she probably wasn’t going to be able to walk. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that it was time for lunch. If she didn’t eat, she’d probably collapse from exhaustion. Actually, she was already well on her way there, her steps more like shuffles and her vision blurring slightly around the edges.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tenten? Is that you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah, I’m a friggin mass-murderer,” Tenten grumbled, turning around to see who was talking to her. There, down the street, stood Naruto and Iruka-sensei.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Naruto, Iruka-sensei. What are you guys doing here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re getting Ichiraku!” Naruto pumped his fist, dancing around in joy. Iruka-sensei laughed and put his hand on Naruto’s head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All right, settle down, Naruto.” Iruka-sensei smiled at Tenten. “You look tired, Tenten. Would you like to get some ramen with us?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She opened her mouth to refuse, not wanting to intrude, when her stomach let out a loud growl. “Sure,” Tenten said weakly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Naruto ran up to her and dragged her behind him. “Come on! Let’s eat!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten’s heart warmed at the joy in his voice at the prospect of eating with other people. He must have been so lonely as a kid to be like this today. He thought of everyone as his friend, no matter how rude they were to him, something Tenten couldn't even begin to fathom. She'd heard some of the stuff Sasuke had said to him during his time on Team 7. If it had been her, she would've decked him, and that wasn't an exaggeration. She'd broken Neji's nose twice for saying stuff that was tame compared to some of the things Sasuke had said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, how have you been, Tenten?” Iruka-sensei asked, also being dragged by Naruto. “I haven’t seen you since you graduated from the Academy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been good.” Tenten shrugged. “Team Gai’s been fun.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve seen some of your team’s recent mission reports. I’m glad Neji and Lee are getting along better these days.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So am I,” Tenten replied dryly. “I really owe Naruto one for knocking some sense into Neji. Who knew that all it’d take to get him to shut up about fate was a single uppercut?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto laughed and put his hands behind his head. “Ah, it was nothing. That fight was easy!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure it was.” Tenten rolled her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello!” Teuchi and Ayame called as they walked into the shop. “Iruka, Naruto, it’s good to see you again! And Tenten, it’s been a while! I was sure you’d left ramen behind for that dumpling shop.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, well Teuchi-san, I couldn’t stay away from Konoha’s best ramen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll take the usual, old man!” Naruto said, dramatically plopping down in a seat. Iruka-sensei and Tenten, sitting on either side of him, gave their orders too. After that, conversation flowed pleasantly, with discussions about their training and new jutsu until the food arrived.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here you go!” Teuchi exclaimed, setting down three steaming bowls of ramen. “Naruto, in honor of your last day in Konoha for a while, your first bowl is on the house.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, old man!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Grabbing chopsticks, Tenten, Iruka-sensei, and Naruto called, “Itadakimasu!” in unison and dug in with gusto. Tenten practically inhaled the food, starved from the insane workout of lugging 250 kilos on each leg for nearly two hours.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what’s this about your last day in Konoha?” Tenten asked Naruto around a mouthful of noodles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me and Pervy Sage are leaving Konoha for a while so I can do some training. I’m gonna be way stronger when I get back, believe it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How long is ‘a while’?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh…” Naruto frowned and crossed his arms. “I think Tsunade-baachan said something like two years.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You call Hokage-sama ‘baachan’?” Iruka-sensei stared at Naruto in horror. “Do you have a death wish, Naruto?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten didn’t catch Naruto’s reply, already lost in thought. Two years was a long time to be gone. Maybe when Naruto came back, she’d have mastered Hiraishin! Then they could spar and see how much they’d grown over their years of training.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They fell silent as they ate, Tenten and Naruto slurping up their noodles at lightning speed but slowing down significantly when Iruka-sensei informed them that they’d throw up if they continued to eat at that speed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bowls piled up as Naruto ate more and more, now disregarding Iruka-sensei’s earlier advice. Iruka-sensei sighed as he watched Naruto shovel the food in at incredible speed. “Slow down, Naruto,” he said, affectionate exasperation coloring his tone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No time,” he said, his mouth full of noodles. “Me ‘n Pervy Sage gotta leave in like, 10 minutes. I totally lost track of time.” Gulping down the broth, he slammed the bowl down and stood up. “Thanks for everything, Iruka-sensei.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll walk with you,” Tenten decided, getting up from her chair, despite the protest from her legs, and slapping down the money for her meal on the counter. She did need more training, after all, and the more she moved with the weights, the more she would get used to them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Naruto,” Iruka-sensei jumped in, drawing their attention. “Can I have a quick word with you before you go?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?” Naruto turned back to Iruka-sensei. “Yeah, sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Deciding to let them have their moment, Tenten stepped out of Ichiraku and leaned on the pole outside. The area was bustling with activity, the late lunch crowd milling around looking for somewhere to eat. The buzz of conversation filled Tenten’s ears as she gazed at the sky, idly watching the clouds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you hear? That Demon Fox kid’s leaving town for the next two years.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten froze and snapped her gaze to the source of the voice, a plain-looking civilian man and a couple of other men who were walking along the street.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One of the others chimed in. “Good riddance. Now we can feel safe in our own damn village without that </span>
  <em>
    <span>monster </span>
  </em>
  <span>around.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Clenching her jaw, Tenten bit back the scathing remark sitting on the tip of her tongue. Naruto didn’t deserve any of this. He’d had the Kyuubi sealed in him as a baby, for crying out loud, it’s not like he’d asked for it or anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Besides, it had been the Yondaime Hokage that sealed the Kyuubi in him, and he was well-known throughout Nippon as a fuinjutsu master. Did people really think that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he’d </span>
  </em>
  <span>mess up a seal?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatcha glarin’ at, Tenten?” Naruto popped up next to her out of nowhere, hoisting a backpack onto his shoulders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, don’t worry about it.” She straightened up and waved him off. “It’s nothing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you say so.” He shrugged. “Let’s go!” Tenten had barely taken a step when Naruto suddenly gasped. Turning around, she found him staring with shining eyes at the torture devices strapped to her legs. “Hey, are those Bushy-Brow’s weights?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yep,” she replied, popping the ‘p’. He wouldn’t look so excited if he knew what it was like to wear the damn things. And she’d be wearing these for a while too, for a few years, if Lee was anything to go by.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Geez, with those, you’re gonna be as fast as him by the time I get back!” Naruto pumped his fist. “That means I’m gonna have to do a whole bunch of training and get way stronger too! Then I’ll fight both of you guys and beat you for sure!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?” Tenten grinned at him. “We’ll see about that! Guess what? I’m gonna master a new jutsu by the time you get back. I’ll be so fast that the fight’ll be over before you can even take a step toward me!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bring it on!” Naruto shouted, “I’ll get so strong that when I fight, you won’t even know what hit you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hah! That’s where you’re wrong. I’ll be so fast that you won’t even land any hits!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll get so strong that I only need one hit to take you down anyway!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, but being able to take me down in one hit is useless if you can’t even hit me in the first place, Naruto.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They continued back and forth like that for a while as they walked through Konoha, going over the good old speed versus power debate, which got surprisingly heated. Naruto was dead set on the idea that he could take down anyone, regardless of their speed, with enough power, which Tenten knew damn well was not true.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s probably got something to do with Sasuke</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Tenten realized. There was no point in arguing with the members of Team 7 when it came to Sasuke. They were dead set on bringing him back, no matter the cost, and never listened to anyone else when it came to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Letting out a small exhale, she smiled at him and relented, “Alright, Naruto, how’s this sound? We’ll spar when you get back and we’ll see who wins.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds good, but don’t cry when I kick your ass!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah, sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Naruto!” A man with long, spiky white hair and lines of red paint running down his face stood near the entrance to the village, his arms crossed and a disapproving expression on his face. “Where have you been? It’s time to go!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was eating ramen!” Naruto said indignantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who’s this?” He eyed Tenten curiously and then a grin spread across his face. “Your girlfriend, maybe?” He waggled his eyebrows at Naruto. “Good for you, kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“WHAT?” Naruto and Tenten screeched in unison.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” Naruto waved his hands around. “She’s my friend, that’s all. Besides, she’s already got a boyfriend.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh?” Tenten frowned, turning to him. “I do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Naruto nodded. “Yeah, don’t play around, you and Neji are dating!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that so?” demanded a male voice from behind them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They whirled around to see Neji, his arms crossed, standing slightly in front of a blushing Hinata who gave the pair of them a small smile and a tentative wave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Neji! Hinata!” Naruto ran up to them, visibly excited. “Why are you guys here?” He paused and elbowed Neji, a sly smirk on his face. “Oh, I get it now. You’re jealous that I’m hanging out with your girlfriend!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Girlfriend?” Neji raised a brow at him and turned to Tenten. “So we’re dating now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up, Hyuuga. You’d be damn lucky to date me and you know it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gave her an unreadable look, holding her gaze for several long seconds before turning away and muttering something under his breath that Tenten couldn’t quite catch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So… you’re dating, right?” Naruto frowned, looking back and forth between them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nah,” Tenten snorted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Naruto looked disappointed at the lack of drama, making Tenten roll her eyes for what was probably the millionth time today. “So why’re you guys here then?” Naruto asked, his focus switching back to Neji and Hinata. Hinata flushed even more and hid behind her cousin, though Tenten noticed that she wasn't hiding so much as standing a little further back than he was. Progress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neji turned slightly to look at Hinata. “Hinata-sama has something she wishes to tell you, Naruto.” He gently nudged her forward, making her let out a soft ‘eep’ and stumble a little. Hastily, she straightened up and tried to look Naruto in the eyes. Failing, she looked back down at the ground, pressing her fingers together in her usual nervous habit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I…” The infamous full-faced Hyuuga blush (which was definitely genetic, Tenten had seen it on Neji before) took over and Hinata stood there like a tomato with an anxiety problem, quietly stuttering. “I just wanted to say… good luck on your training… and…” she trailed off again, looking at the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neji put a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. “You can do it, Hinata-sama,” he said quietly, squeezing her shoulder a bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hinata took a deep breath and closed her eyes, yelling, “I’ll train hard and stand by your side one day, Naruto-kun!” She looked down at the ground, refusing to meet Naruto’s curious gaze. “I… I’ll have to work hard to keep up with you, but… I’ll do it, I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In response, Naruto grinned at the girl and… oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that was the Nice Guy Pose!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thank Kami he’d be away from Lee and Gai-sensei’s influence for two years. If he stayed, he’d be running around in spandex and screaming about youth in no time. Maybe he’d even get a bowl cut. Tenten shuddered at the thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Hinata!” To Tenten’s great relief, Naruto dropped the pose. “I’ll be super strong when I get back, believe it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, hurry up!” The white-haired man tapped his foot impatiently, arms crossed. “We’re late already!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah, don’t get your panties in a knot, Pervy Sage, lemme finish talking to my friends first!” Naruto shot a glare at his teacher, who pouted and looked away, grumbling something under his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are those Lee-san’s weights?” Hinata said suddenly, pointing at Tenten’s legs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neji whipped around and stared at the weights, his eyes filled with horror. Grabbing her shoulders, he shook Tenten lightly. “Tenten, it is a slippery slope from this to putting on one of those jumpsuits and becoming obsessed with youth. Please, I beg of you, I cannot be left as the only sane person on the team—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Relax, Neji,” Tenten rolled her eyes. “It’s a means to an end. You won’t catch me putting on one of those jumpsuits, believe it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, that’s my thing!” Naruto said indignantly. Tenten just stuck her tongue out at the younger boy instead of responding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Naruto, <em>come on</em>! We have to get going!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blond let out a sigh. “Well, I guess it’s time to go.” He grinned at them, seeming to glow with joy. “I guess I’ll see all of you in two years, then!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neji nodded. “I wish you luck on your travels, Naruto. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Thanks to you, I have seen that one’s fate can be changed and that there is far more to life than I previously imagined.” He smiled. “When you return, I will be far stronger than I am now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was nothing.” Naruto grinned, putting his hands behind his head. “Besides, someone had to get your head out of your ass.” Neji looked affronted at the implication.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“G—good luck on your training Naruto-kun!” Hinata smiled at him, still blushing. As cute as it was, she really did have to get that under control.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten ruffled Naruto’s hair. “Good luck, Naruto. Don’t forget, we’re gonna spar when you get back and I’m gonna kick your ass!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, right! I’ll get super strong and kick your ass to Suna and back when I get back home!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Grinning, Tenten flicked his forehead. “Well, I’ll have to see it to believe it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you will!” His gaze moved to Hokage Rock, where he stared at the Yondaime Hokage’s face. He slowly put his hand up, framing the stone face, and mumbled, “Just you watch.” Then, he clenched his hand into a fist, a determined grin spreading across his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sometime this year, Naruto!” The white-haired man turned away and walked out of the gate, leaving a panicked Naruto to run after him, yelling for him to wait. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten watched him leave, smiling to herself. Well, would you look at that? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Both of us are learning something from Yondaime-sama. That’s gonna be one hell of a spar in two years, huh? </span>
  </em>
  <span>She moved her gaze to the stone face. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Watch over him too, Yondaime-sama. We’ll both live up to your name, I’m sure of it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow, you reek,” Li-Fen commented in lieu of a greeting as Tenten stepped into their apartment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks for the warm welcome,” Tenten said dryly, taking her shoes off and padding into the living room, where her sister was sitting. “I feel so loved.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After Naruto had left, Tenten had continued on her way home, finally able to walk normally with the weights on. She was still a little slow, admittedly, and hadn’t even tried to run yet (oh Kami, training was gonna be a disaster wasn’t it?) but it was better than before, that was for sure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>you been up to?” Li-Fen wrinkled her nose, waving her hand in front of her face. “I don’t think I’ve ever smelled sweat this strongly before.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey look, you finally feel what it’s like to be me when you get home from work!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Very funny, Tiantian. You didn’t answer my question.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s training.” Tenten sighed and turned away from her sister, heading to the bathroom. Waves of exhaustion slammed into her, and her bed called to her like a siren song. The only thing keeping her from flopping down on it and sleeping the rest of the day away was the thought of the furious rant she’d get from her sister about cleanliness and the stench of sweat soaking into her bedsheets. “I’m gonna go take a shower. And then probably sleep for the next two weeks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slipping into the small bathroom, Tenten took the weights off, gently setting them down so they didn’t damage the floor. Already feeling much lighter, she jumped a couple of times, a grin spreading across her face at the feeling of finally being free. She jumped a couple more times and then did a backflip, somehow knocking over the cup that held their toothbrushes and sending it clattering to the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Li-Fen’s voice came faintly through the door. “Tiantian, what are you doing in there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“None of your business!” Tenten called back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It is my business when it sounds like you’re breaking our bathroom!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just knocked over the toothbrush cup you worrywart!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She heard a quiet snort. “Of course you did.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not deigning to reply, Tenten pulled out the ties holding her buns in place and let her hair tumble down over her shoulders. Stepping into the shower stall, Tenten turned on the water and let it flow over her, sighing as the hot spray relaxed the aching muscles in her legs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If there was one thing that life as a shinobi had taught her, it was how to take a fast shower. She was in and out in less than 10 minutes, hair tied up in a towel and dirty clothes tossed with pinpoint accuracy into the laundry basket. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking the towel off her hair, she dried the damp strands as much as she could and tossed the towel into the basket too. With lots of grumbling, she put the ankle weights back on, mourning the loss of her freedom to jump, and was ready to succumb to the call of her bed when she heard her sister call her from the living room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tiantian!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s up?” she asked as soon as she entered the room, leaning over her sister and looking down curiously at the map her sister was fiddling with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve gone to Konoha’s Ninja Tool Research Facility, right? Can you show me the way there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten’s mind flashed back to her mission with Naruto and Neji to that place and the incredible weapons she had gotten from Io after she had fought off those two shinobi trying to steal his tools. But most of all, she remembered that amazing tool, Jidanda, and the rush she had gotten from wielding it. Oh, she really hoped he was finished with it. If she could use that in battle, she’d—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tiantian?” Li-Fen’s voice snapped her back to reality.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her sister rolled her eyes. “Head up in the clouds, as always. Mama and Baba named you well. Twice heaven indeed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh shut up.” Tenten pointed to the research facility’s location on the map. “It’s right there. The best path is through these woods.” As she spoke, Tenten traced the path with her finger. “Why do you need to go there anyway?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m thinking of applying to work there.” Her sister grabbed a nearby pen and marked the path Tenten had indicated. “Blacksmithing and weapons development go hand-in-hand, after all, and I want to help develop new weapons for you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, for me?” Tenten gasped. When Li-Fen nodded, a bright smile on her face, a rush of affection coursed through Tenten and she grabbed her sister in a tight hug. “You’re the best, jiějiě.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, it took you this long to notice?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nevermind, I take it back.” Tenten playfully shoved her sister away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nooo,” Li-Fen whined, grabbing Tenten and dragging her backward.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a yelp, Tenten fell back on her sister, who promptly took advantage of the situation to put Tenten into a headlock. In the following struggle, Li-Fen’s knee smacked into the table and she hissed, relaxing her hold and allowing Tenten to get loose. They wrestled for a bit, laughing breathlessly and rolling around on the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the end, Li-Fen won. Not surprising, considering that she was five years older than Tenten and ripped from years of working as a blacksmith’s apprentice. Besides, Tenten was exhausted from lugging those weights around all afternoon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They shifted from the hold Li-Fen had her in so that Li-Fen was holding Tenten in a hug while they sat on the floor, Tenten draped across her sister’s lap with her head resting on Li-Fen’s shoulder. With a warm laugh, Li-Fen planted a kiss on Tenten’s forehead. “Go take a nap, Tiantian. I can hear how tired you are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm.” Tenten just nuzzled closer to her sister, already half-asleep from the gentle warmth of her embrace. With a sigh, Li-Fen scooped Tenten up and carried her to her room, straining a little with the added mass of the weights.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What have you been eating, Tiantian?” she groaned as she set Tenten on the bed as gently as possible, bedsprings creaking under the weight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have weights ‘n,” Tenten slurred, “trainin’ f’r new juts’.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, that makes sense.” Li-Fen planted a kiss on Tenten’s forehead again. “Sleep well, Tiantian.” Tenten didn’t even hear the door close, already drifting off.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she woke up, it was dark out. She slowly sat up and made to get out of bed, but immediately stopped and flopped back down, groaning in pain. Her thighs ached something fierce, and Tenten cursed herself for forgetting to stretch before sleeping.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, with lots of effort and no small amount of complaining to the walls, Tenten managed to get out of bed and squint at a clock. 9:23, not too late. She could get some late-night target practice in at the training ground and then do some stretches for her legs. After all, it was always useful to practice hitting targets in non-ideal conditions, like the pitch black of the night. Scribbling a quick note for her sister just in case, Tenten stepped out of the apartment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She decided to attempt a jog with the stupid weights since Gai-sensei would be making them run tomorrow and she needed to figure out her limits before then so she didn’t collapse and die. Neji would also be very annoyed if that happened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The jog was by far the hardest workout she’d had in all 14 and a half years of her life, without question. It took everything in her to sustain a pace that was about the same as Neji’s when he was speed walking. Kami, she’d need to take another shower when she got home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once she reached the training area, she set up targets all over and tossed kunai at them while doing wild tricks, slowly getting used to moving with the weights on. The first few attempts at a flip led to either an aching butt or a mouthful of dirt, or if she landed badly enough, both. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, she managed to learn how to do flips without using chakra and the targets and dummies began to fill up with kunai and shuriken, all landed precisely where she wanted them to. If the crotch targets on her dummies had more kunai than the others, then that was her business. She continued to fill up targets until there were 10 left, two of which were on the backs of trees. The perfect setup for one of her favorite kunai tricks.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Let’s see if I can do it with these weights on too.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Pumping chakra to her legs and jumping up as high as she could, she let herself fall headfirst toward the ground, kunai between each of her fingers. Taking a breath, she released six of them directly at the targets, and the remaining two on a trajectory past the trees that contained their intended targets. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, quickly pulling out two more kunai, she waited for a beat and then flicked her wrists, sending them flying. They hit the two kunai on the indirect trajectories with a ‘clang’ that resounded in the night air, sending all four knives spinning off to land with a ‘thunk’ just as Tenten also landed on the ground, cracking the earth underneath her feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A quick once-over revealed the expected result: each kunai had hit the bullseye of its target. </span>
  <span>She smirked. Ten out of ten, as usual. Living up to her name, as she always had, from the Academy to now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A memory suddenly floated to the surface of her mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A seven-year-old Tenten hid behind a tree, watching the boy, five years her senior, who stood in the clearing in front of her. The boy’s long black hair moved gently in the wind, revealing the red and white fan on the back of his shirt. The dappling shadows from the leaves danced across his skin as he stood in the forest, ten targets mounted on trees surrounding him, two of them positioned behind their trees. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Closing his eyes, he jumped into the air, sunlight glinting off the kunai between his fingers. He released six of the eight, sending the last two past their intended targets. Then, pulling out two more kunai, seemingly from thin air, he launched them at the other two. They hit each other with a ‘ting’ and slammed into their targets just as the boy landed on the ground in a crouch, eyes still closed. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Little Tenten stared in awe at him, the slightest flush on her cheeks. He was pretty </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>talented with weapons. Way better than any of the boys in her year, especially that stupid Neji Hyuuga. Forget what all the girls said about marrying Neji, she wanted to marry this boy.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The boy’s eyes snapped open, and Tenten gasped as red eyes with three black tomoe locked with hers.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She shivered at the memory and shook it off, moving to collect her kunai. She pulled each one out of the targets with a smile until she reached the last one, one of the two targets that had been behind a tree. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kunai had landed a centimeter off the center.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nine out of ten. A bad omen. Something bad will happen soon.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She stared at the target for a few more seconds before letting out a soft snort. It was probably nothing… right? But she’d had this uneasy feeling for a while, even when she had begun to practice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A glance at the sky revealed that the moon had been partially covered by clouds. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Another bad omen.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>A strange sound caught Tenten’s ears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She flinched, whipping around and straining her ears to discern it. They were… sniffles. Someone was crying. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A ghost?</span>
  </em>
  <span> She felt a shiver run down her spine at the prospect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pulling out a kunai, Tenten crept forward, out of the wooded area and toward the noise. When she reached the clearing where the training posts stood, her eyes caught on a lone figure sitting against one of the stumps. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Tenten moved forward, the figure’s head snapped toward her. Tenten froze and snapped, “Whoever you are, don’t move! Tell me who you are!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tenten-san?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tenten moved forward, pulling out a torch from a scroll and lighting it to reveal Hinata, her eyes red-rimmed and teary, anguish evident in her expression and tear streaks running down her cheeks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hinata?” Tenten breathed, stabbing her torch into the ground. “Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Tenten neared Hinata, she noticed bandages wrapping around Hinata’s head, obscuring her forehead from view. The girl was also pale and trembling, a shaking hand at her mouth and her other arm wrapped around herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Hinata,” Tenten made her tone as soothing as possible and wrapped her hands around Hinata’s biceps. “What’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I—” Hinata let out a hiccuping sob. Slowly raising her hands to the bandages around her forehead, she undid them, letting them slowly flutter to her feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tenten thought, a surge of emotions coursing through her, pity, sadness, and overwhelming anger. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Those had been bad omens after all.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>On Hinata’s forehead sat a seal, a manji with two straight lines on either side, hued pale green. It was identical to the one Neji bore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Hyuuga clan’s Cursed Seal.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*lovingly smacks your face like a cat* comints?</p><p>you can come yell at me on <a href="https://erumai-maadu.tumblr.com/">my tumblr</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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